FL Lawmakers Say NO To ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban, Say YES To Armed Teachers

Florida’s Senate Rules Committee spent hours deciding what to include, and what not to include, in their amendments for a package of bills that looks to help curb incidents like deadly school shootings and mentally ill people getting a hold of firearms.

The amendments have another step to go through, before finally being voted on.

Here is what the committee decided:

• Will NOT ban semi-automatic ‘assault’ weapons, such as the AR-15
• Raise the legal age to 21-years-old in order to purchase and own a firearm
• Approved legislation that would allow teachers to be armed at school
• Gun confiscation from certain people with mental health issues

The hottest debate has been circling the idea of teachers being armed on school grounds. Parents and students have expressed their concern, and seem to believe that a teacher will snap and start opening fire.

“It bothers me to think as a father of two young boys to tell them to not be aggressive to your teacher,” said Sen. Oscar Branynon (D-Miami Gardens).

The lawmaker told the Sun Sentinel that he and other black fathers across Florida will now have to include teachers when talking to their children about how to act around armed authority figures.

“Please don’t make it dangerous for children who look like my children to go to school,” he said.

Requirements would be put in place, and not every teacher would be able to carry a firearm. Similar to how a person obtains a concealed carry permit in Florida –and likely with additional requirements– a process would need to be completed in order for that teacher to carry.

These are educators who love what they do and love the children that they teach. Allowing them to carry on campus, especially those who carry firearms on a daily basis and have the training, is a solid decision in my eyes. These are folks who don’t carry on campus, simply because it’s illegal to do so. But, in their personal lives while outside of school, they carry their firearms with them — without incident.