Tally Lawmakers Formulate Plans For Gun Law Changes
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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) - A day after thousands of students, teachers, activists rallied at the state's Capitol, their demands for change continue to reverberate among lawmakers.
Chanting "vote them out, vote them out," students rallied inside and outside the Capitol.
A group of 100 students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High divided into groups and met with 70 lawmakers, and Gov. Rick Scott, to demand stricter, common sense gun laws.
"We don't need these AR-15s to defend ourselves or our country. We can do that through our voices, we will not be silenced. No more AR-15s," said Stoneman Douglas High student Ashley Santorum.
State Representative Jose Oliva from Miami Lakes is the incoming Speaker of the House.
"We're working with the senate and we're working with the governor in the interest as being as efficient and effective as possible," said Rep. Jose Oliva.
He tells us the house version of the proposal will likely include raising the age to buy any kind of firearm to 21. There would also be some type of mental health component.
The proposal calls for information sharing between agencies like police and DCF and school hardening and securing, including the possibility of allowing armed teachers who are specially trained.
"Allowing local sheriff's and local superintendents to opt in or opt out of hardening program that allows teachers, with certain training, if they volunteer, to be armed in the classroom," Oliva explained.
It's an idea that's getting support from Senate President Joe Negron.
"The concept of having teachers who are trained and have appropriate credentials being able to be able to be armed to protect students, I would support that," Negron said.
What will likely not be in any plan of the republican dominated legislature is a measure to ban the AR-15 or any other type of weapon, something many survivors are demanding.
"I believe that to ban a particular type of rifle in its entirety and make it illegal in my judgement crosses the line into being unconstitutional," Negron said.
Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson spent the day at the Capitol speaking to lawmakers.
He says arming teachers is a bad idea.
"You got to get to the root problem, criminal background checks and get the assault rifles off the streets," Nelson said.
Tuesday night, when the students from Parkland arrived, the House vote down a move to discuss banning assault weapons. The vote angered students demanding action.
The House then announced that it would lay out their plan Thursday or Friday. Some possibilities include raising the age to 21 to buy any type of firearm, some type of mental health component, information sharing between agencies for background checks and better school security - which may include arming specially trained teachers.
On the Senate side, incoming Senate President Bill Galvano is working on a proposal that calls for the possibility of raising the age to 21 to buy an assault rifle, a ban on bump stocks -- that's the device used in the Vegas shooting to allow faster fire, implementing a three day waiting period for gun purchases and to close screening loopholes especially relating to mental illness.
The lawmakers are under the gun, so to speak, because their session ends in two weeks and they want to pass bills before then.
Students vow they'll be watching.
"This is to every lawmaker out there, no longer can you take money from the NRA, no longer can you fly under the radar doing whatever it is that you want to do because we are coming after you. We are coming after every single one of you demanding action, demanding that you make a change," said a Stoneman Douglas senior Delaney Tarr.
The students plan to stage a 'March For Our Lives' rally in Washington D.C. next month.
