Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a gun control bill on Friday (March 9) that aims to ensure school safety throughout the state. Lawmakers had gathered earlier this week to formulate a law that would prevent an incident similar to the Parkland shooting from ever happening again. A report by CNN provided most of the information used in this article.

New law arms school workers

The state law introduces new gun restrictions in the state and a provision that allows trained teachers to arm themselves. The state law is being dubbed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. According to the law, selling any firearms to persons under the age of 21 is illegal.

The law also imposes a three-day waiting period for most gun purchases, arms trained school teachers, provides better mental health care for schools, and restricts the selling of guns to people who show signs of mental illness and violence

Though the governor does not fully support the act of arming teachers, he signed the bill since it allows local communities to opt out. The Coach Aaron Feis Guardian program was named in honor of the coach who gave his life by shielding students with his body. The arming of teachers depends on whether the local district and local sheriff's department agree. The governor has supported the bill since its formulation. Students from local schools have been following up on the bill calling it “a baby step.” Surrounded by families of the Parkland shooting and the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the governor defied the NRA and signed the bill, despite the NRA’s considerable influence in Florida and support for his candidacy.

The bill was opposed by some Republican lawmakers who were against banning bump stocks, raising the age limit for purchasing guns, and giving law enforcement power to seize weapons from owners considered mentally ill. The Republicans also fought strongly on allocating more funds to arming of school security officers.

Nikolas Cruz

Meanwhile, the Parkland shooting suspect, Nikolas Cruz, is still in confinement, facing 34 counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder. Apparently, Nicholas went into a store and bought the gun he allegedly used to massacre the students and staff in Florida. According to authorities, the suspect had been expelled following discipline cases and though it is not clear why he decided to go back and murder the students, police and court records show a long history of complaints about his behavior months before the incident.
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