[quote]It seems as though the student's protests have actually accomplished something, though not all of their demands are being met. Here are the major points: 1) Governor Rick Scott has said that he does not support the arming of teachers. According to him, the only armed individuals in schools should be trained law enforcement officers.[/quote] Agreed. LEOs receive far better training than a teacher can. Also, having LEOs in schools is a good community outreach opportunity for those officers. Two birds. [quote]2) His proposal would ban mentally ill individuals and individuals under the age of 21 from buying or owning guns.[/quote] I agree with the mentally ill part. My dad was a cop and had to kill a mentally ill individual who got a gun and started to shoot at anything he perceived to move. Dad won’t talk about it much, but I can tell that it has affected him. The age raise I do have a bit of an issue with. There are quite a few occupations out there for 18 year olds that have them handling firearms (Military, National Guard, Law Enforcement, Dept of Corrections). Now, some of the larger jurisdictions have already raised requirements for becoming a LEO by requiring a college degree, but the smaller ones may not have. Also, there are historical reenactors who start out as young as 14 (reflecting the approximate age of young men who ran away from home to join the army). Another point, how would this stop parents from purchasing a firearm to gift to their kid? I don’t believe this part of Gov. Scott’s plan will work as it feels like a knee jerk reaction to Parkland. [quote]3) The AR-15 would still be legal under this plan.[/quote] Okay. [quote]4) The plan would increase public education funding in order to allow for at least one security guard in every school.[/quote] This should have been a thing after Columbine. [quote]5) The plan also calls for a hotline to report warning signs or suspicious activity.[/quote] Excellent!! [quote]Discuss. My personal opinion is that this plan is mostly good. A person like the Parkland shooter should not have been able to purchase any kind of gun, given his record and mental state. That said, I don't think raising the hard age limit is necessary. Perhaps there should be extra steps involved for those under 21, but there are certainly 18-year-olds mature and responsible enough to handle firearms. Though the students wanted the AR-15 banned, I agree with the governor that bans on certain weapon types are not the solution.[/quote] You and I are on the same page. Since the vast majority of murders in this country are committed with handguns, banning rifles, even assault rifles will make very little statistical difference. The reason these kinds of murders get so much attention is because they are so rare by comparison. Same thing with plane crashes. More people are killed in cars, but when a single plane crashes, it tends to kill more people than a single car crash. Something does need to be done. I completely agree with that, and I agree with mostly everything Gov. Scott is proposing, but raising the age is a bit problematic. I work at a Prosecutor’s Office looking up backgrounds of criminals, victims, and witnesses for the attorneys to help build cases. Occasionally, when FDLE gets swamped, we do background checks for potential buyers for firearms sales. If the check is not completed in 3 days from submission, the buyer is essentially automatically cleared. I would recommend that this changes. Give the state a week to do the background checks. Also, some states during a background check do not list the severity of crimes (felony/misdemeanor). We need states to make that clarification in their records. These two moves would do wonders for the whole background check argument.