text: Gov. Rick Scott and top state lawmakers proposed on Friday the most significant move toward gun control in Florida in decades, backing new limits that defy the National Rifle Association but fall short of demands from survivors of last week’s school shooting. 
   
   Faced with massive protests, the Republican governor announced a plan to raise the minimum age to buy any firearm, including semiautomatic rifles, from 18 to 21. Mr. Scott also vowed to strengthen rules to keep weapons away from people who have mental health problems or injunctions against them for stalking or domestic violence. 
   
   “I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who has mental issues to use a gun,” said Mr. Scott, who is widely expected to run for a United States Senate seat this year. “I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who is a danger to themselves or others to use a gun.” 
   
   Student protesters who rallied at the State Capitol on Wednesday had demanded a complete ban on military-style assault rifles. On Friday, students said they were disappointed, if unsurprised, that Mr. Scott had stopped short of a ban, but vowed to keep pushing for one. ||||| (CNN) A week after one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern US history, Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced a comprehensive plan to keep students safe in his state, including suggestions to raise the minimum age to buy a gun, keep weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill and ban the sale of bump stocks. 
   
   A former student fatally shot 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on February 14, sparking renewed and heated debate over the middle point between Second Amendment rights and student safety. 
   
   "We must take care of our kids," Scott, a Republican, said at a news conference announcing his three-part plan. 
   
   Kai Koerber, a student at Stoneman Douglas who was there the day of the shooting, called the plan "a step in the right direction." 
   
   "This is not the end of the line, but we thank Governor Scott for hearing our concerns, and taking steps to secure a better future for the sons and daughters of tomorrow," he said. 
   
   JUST WATCHED Rick Scott details Florida gun law changes Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Rick Scott details Florida gun law changes 03:44 
   
   The governor also called for tougher background checks and waiting periods to buy firearms; requiring mentally ill people who have been involuntarily committed to temporarily surrender weapons; and the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars toward improving security in schools and mental health services. 
   
   "Keeping guns away from dangerous people and people with mental issues is what we need to do," he said. 
   
   "No one with mental issues should have access to guns. It's common sense, and it is in their own best interest -- not to mention the interests of our communities. And much of what I'm proposing involves giving law enforcement the ability to stop people from harming themselves and others, while giving them the tools to keep our schools safe." 
   
   Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, a Democrat who was re-elected in 2016, was pleased with the news. 
   
   "Thank you Gov. Scott and state legislative leaders for proposing a gun and school safety package that incorporates nearly all the ideas (Broward Sheriff's Office) and other sheriffs suggested. This is a strong first step in giving us the proactive ability to keep Florida safer," his office tweeted from its verified account . The targeted high school is in Broward County. 
   
   Other Democrats don't think the proposals would go far enough. 
   
   "We can beef up mental health screenings, raise the age for gun purchases and dream up other stop-gap measures, but the threat to our children and our citizens will continue until we finally take bold action to ban assault weapons designed for the battlefield from easy access in our communities," Florida Senate Democratic Leader Oscar Braynon said, referring to semiautomatic, assault-style rifles like the AR-15 the shooter at Stoneman Douglas used. 
   
   Scott, who noted that he is a member of the National Rife Association, said he's not calling for a ban on all firearms. 
   
   "I know there are some who are advocating a mass takeaway of Second Amendment rights for all Americans. That is not the answer." 
   
   In response to questions about calls for a ban on AR-15-style rifles and other semiautomatic guns, the governor said that "banning specific weapons and punishing law abiding citizens is not going to fix this. What we have to do is we have to really focus on the problem. We've got to take all weapons away from people with mental illness, people who are threatening themselves or threatening others." 
   
   Part 1: Keep guns away from dangerous people 
   
   Scott said the plan will address strengthening gun laws to keep "guns away from dangerous and violent people." 
   
   -- Part of that includes creating a "Violent Threat Restraining Order," which permits a court "to prohibit a violent or mentally ill person from purchasing or possessing a firearm when either a family member, community welfare expert or law enforcement officer" presents evidence to the court of a threat of firearms violence. 
   
   JUST WATCHED Student's warning to Gov. Scott at the polls Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Student's warning to Gov. Scott at the polls 01:26 
   
   -- It calls for strengthening "gun purchase and possession restrictions for mentally ill individuals under the Baker Act. If a court involuntarily commits someone for treatment under the Baker Act because they are at risk of harming themselves or others, an individual would be required to surrender all firearms and not regain their right to purchase or possess a firearm until a court hearing." 
   
   -- People who "are subject to an injunction for protection against stalking, cyberstalking, dating violence, repeat violence, sexual violence, or domestic violence" would be prohibited from possessing or buying a firearm. 
   
   -- Enhanced criminal penalties should be created for threats to schools, including "social media threats of shootings or bombings." It also calls for enhanching "penalties if any person possesses or purchases a gun after they have been deemed by state law to not have access to a gun." 
   
   -- Exceptions on the age for firearms purchasing include active duty and reserve military and spouses, National Guard members, and law enforcement. 
   
   Scott said he disagrees with the notion of arming educators, saying teachers should teach and police should police. 
   
   "My focus is on bringing in law enforcement. I think you need to have individuals that are trained, well-trained. My focus is let law enforcement do the keeping us safe and let teachers focus on teaching." 
   
   Part 2: Keeping students safe 
   
   Scott proposed a $450 million initiative for student safety, calling for the presence of a resource officer in every public school and giving sheriffs' departments the power "to train additional school personnel or reserve law enforcement officers" if local school boards ask. 
   
   JUST WATCHED Florida high school to reopen after massacre Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Florida high school to reopen after massacre 01:36 
   
   The plan requires "mandatory active shooter training" and says faculty and students must be involved in "active shooter drills." It calls for an increase in funding for safe school infrastructure, such as metal detectors, steel doors and upgraded locks. 
   
   Scott called for an anonymous K-12 "See Something, Say Something" hotline, website and mobile app, funding "to require access to dedicated mental health counselors to provide direct counseling services," the creation of "threat assessment" teams at each school, and "crisis intervention training for all school personnel." 
   
   Part 3: Expand mental health initiatives 
   
   The plan outlines a $50 million allocation for mental health initiatives, including the expansion of mental health service teams, a Department of Children and Families case manager embedded in every sheriff's department, and matching grants for sheriff's offices to set up special law enforcement teams to work with DCF case managers. 
   
   "There is nothing more important than the safety of our children. Our kids deserve nothing less. Fortunately, our economy is booming, and we have the resources to protect our schools and our students. And, if providing this funding means we won't be able to cut taxes this year -- so be it. And, if we have to give up some of the projects we all hold near and dear -- so be it," the governor said. 
   
   Stoneman Douglas students speak up 
   
   Koerber wasn't pleased with the proposal to give sheriffs' departments the authority to train "additional school personnel" if local school boards request it: 
   
   "Gov. Scott's Action Plan proposes the arming of teachers, if that is the wish of the district. In no way do I, or any of my friends, feel that the arming of teachers is a solution to the issue of gun violence in schools. 
   
   "Nonetheless, we are very happy to see the implementation of a gold standard age for the purchase of firearms, as well as the placement of more law enforcement officers based on the population of a school campus." 
   
   JUST WATCHED Survivor: I'm terrified to return to school Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Survivor: I'm terrified to return to school 00:45 
   
   Kyle Kashuv said he is "a bit concerned over the infringement of Second Amendment rights," a reference to the requirement that people be 21 or over to buy firearms. 
   
   "When you are 18 you are legally tried as an adult yet you are not considered mentally fit for a weapon." 
   
   But he favors other aspects on the plan, including the waiting period for background checks, extra school resource officers, mental health funding, the hotline and school building improvements. 
   
   "I think mental health and background checks are necessary," he said, adding that he also understands why the bump stock ban is necessary. 
   
   Isabella Pfeiffer seemed surprised to hear the governor's proposal. She left a meeting with Scott on Wednesday feeling a bit defeated. She said she didn't think he was actually listening to the students. 
   
   But she is a fan of most of the ideas presented Friday. 
   
   "We were super happy to see they were considering raising the age to 21 to own a rifle, I think that was one of the points we advocated for the most," she said. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
   
   / Updated By Elizabeth Chuck and Corky Siemaszko 
   
   President Donald Trump has proposed a solution to end classroom massacres once and for all: Arm some of America's teachers with concealed weapons, and train them to "immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions," he said Thursday. 
   
   But gun violence experts, educators, and school safety advocates immediately panned the idea. 
   
   "It's a crazy proposal," said Dr. David Hemenway, a professor of health policy at Harvard School of Public Health and an expert on the public health impact of gun violence. Chuckling, he added, "So what should we do about reducing airline hijacking? Give all the passengers guns as they walk on?" 
   
   Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, called it a "colossally stupid idea." 
   
   Related: NRA's Wayne LaPierre accuses Democrats of exploiting Parkland tragedy 
   
   "If having more guns in more places made Americans safer, then we would have the lowest rates of gun violence in any developed country in the world, and the exact opposite is true," she said, calling the notion that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" a myth. 
   
   "So what should we do about reducing airline hijacking? Give all the passengers guns as they walk on?" 
   
   "There could be instances of real confusion that would lead to tragedy if we had more guns in more classrooms," Gardiner said. "What about the time the teacher accidentally leaves the gun unlocked in the desk drawer, and it's picked up by a student? Think about the burden on schools to make sure the teachers are safe to carry guns. Who's doing that checking and monitoring and retraining?" 
   
   Statistics show that states with stricter gun laws and fewer guns have less overall gun violence than those with more lax laws and more guns. Hemenway, who has done extensive research on guns, said it boils down to access to weapons. 
   
   "The evidence is overwhelming, starting at the home. A gun in the home increases the risk that people in the home will die. That's because there's more suicides, more gun accidents, and more homicides," he said. 
   
   Related: How the internet's conspiracy theorists turned Parkland students into 'crisis actors' 
   
   The experts added that even with proper firearms training, to expect a teacher to be able to shoot down an attacker — and not accidentally injure anyone else — is unrealistic. 
   
   "To be trained is not just about shooting. Your heart is beating like crazy, your adrenaline is all over your body, and you have to make a wise decision about what to do," Hemenway said. 
   
   Brian Levin, a former officer with the New York Police Department, said in the heat of the moment, it's too easy to misfire. He recalled a time early in his career when he almost shot an unarmed man fleeing a shooting scene. 
   
   "Often times when you’re having an adrenaline-filled situation, you’re not sure who the target is," said Levin, who is now a criminal justice professor at California State University, San Bernardino. 
   
   Dr. Amy Klinger, director of programs and co-founder of the Educator's School Safety Network, a nonprofit that supports safer schools, said she found it "ironic and sad" that the only training being discussed for teachers is weapons training. 
   
   "How about training in violence prevention, or all of the other threats that schools face, like severe weather, noncustodial parent fights, and bus accidents?" she asked. "I'm thrilled that the president is having this conversation about school safety. But I'm concerned that we're not looking at the really effective options first." 
   
   Not everyone is opposed to arming schoolteachers: In a Washington Post-ABC News poll out this week, 42 percent of Americans said allowing teachers to carry guns could have deterred the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, last week. 
   
   And after the Sandy Hook shooting, about 200 teachers in Utah partook in a free gun training course, led by firearm activists who argued that armed teachers could thwart shooting rampages in their schools. Hundreds more in Butler County, Ohio, signed up for a similar class after the Parkland shooting. 
   
   Cori Sorensen, a fourth grade teacher from Highland Elementary School in Highland, Utah, receives firearms training with a .357 magnum from personal defense instructor Jim McCarthy in West Valley City, Utah on In this Dec. 27, 2012. Rick Bowmer / AP file 
   
   But many prominent figures in education are slamming the idea. 
   
   "Educators need to be focused on teaching our students. We need solutions that will keep guns out of the hands of those who want to use them to massacre innocent children and educators. Arming teachers does nothing to prevent that," said Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association, which represents 3 million educators in the U.S. 
   
   Related: How the Parkland students became advocates for gun reform 
   
   Even pro-gun educators don't necessarily support Trump's plan. Dr. Joshua Grubbs, an assistant professor of clinical psychology at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, owns multiple guns — but said he couldn't imagine bringing them to class. 
   
   "Even under the most ideal conditions, shooting with a handgun is extremely hard. Practically speaking, on a range with ear protection on, at complete peace, that's hard and takes a lot of skills," he said. 
   
   More importantly, he said, bringing a gun into class creates an adversarial dynamic. 
   
   "You're asking teachers, instead of seeing the best in students, to constantly be on guard for a student that might be a threat," Grubbs said. "It's no longer a safe place for you to learn. It puts the teacher more in a law enforcement role. You relate differently to a teacher than you do to a police officer — and you should relate differently." 
   
   Guys, I’m a college professor. 
   
   
   
   I’ve also been shooting guns my entire life and own multiple guns now. 
   
   
   
   I don’t trust myself to be able to capably defend a classroom against a shooter, and I’m a good shot. 
   
   
   
   Why would we expect teachers everywhere to bear this responsibility? — Josh Grubbs (@JoshuaGrubbsPhD) February 21, 2018 
   
   In response to questions from reporters about whether it would be practical to arm 700,000 teachers, as Trump has suggested, White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah responded on Thursday afternoon: "I think when you have a horrific situation like you had last week, and some other school shootings that we’ve seen, these horrible tragedies, what we think and don’t think is practical can change." 
   
   Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed in the Parkland shooting, told MSNBC on Thursday that the massacre would have been much worse had teachers been armed. 
   
   "You had pandemonium, you had kids running all over, teachers running all over. Everyone was trying to get to a safe place," Guttenberg said. "You would’ve had a shootout, with all these kids and people running all over. That would not have saved lives. It would have led to further loss of life." ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
   
   / Updated By Corky Siemaszko 
   
   Florida Gov. Rick Scott broke with President Donald Trump on Friday and rejected calls to arm teachers with guns to prevent school massacres. 
   
   "I disagree with arming teachers," Scott said. "My focus is on bringing in law enforcement. I think you need to have individuals who are trained, well trained." 
   
   Scott also defied the National Rifle Association by unveiling a sweeping plan to boost school security that would bar "violent or mentally ill" people from purchasing weapons, prohibit persons under the age of 21 from buying or owning guns, and outlaw so-called bump stocks that make it possible for semi-automatic weapons to fire faster. 
   
   “I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who has mental issues to use a gun,” Scott said. “I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who is a danger to themselves or others to use a gun.” 
   
   But the Republican governor, who is believed to be eyeing a Senate run, declined to ban the semi-automatic AR-15 type rifle that Nikolas Cruz allegedly used to killed 17 people on Valentine's Day at the high school in Parkland, Florida. 
   
   That was a key demand of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students who survived the shooting. 
   
   "Banning specific weapons is not going to fix this," said Scott. 
   
   An NRA member, Scott said he didn't consult the powerful gun lobby about his proposals. But it appears to be a sharp break with the organization that has 300,000 members in Florida, and that Scott has relied on in the past. 
   
   There was no immediate response to Scott's move from the NRA headquarters. But its chief lobbyist in Florida, Marion Hammer, called it "gratuitous gun control." 
   
   "We oppose punishing law-abiding gun owners," Hammer told the Tampa Bay Times. 
   
   Scott also called for spending $450 million to put a law enforcement officer in every school (one for every 1,000 students), hiring mental health professionals whose only job would be counseling students, and upgrading school security with metal detectors, bulletproof glass, reinforced doors and other measures. 
   
   Florida Governor Rick Scott lays out his school safety proposal during a press conference at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida on Feb 23, 2018. Scott proposed banning the sale of firearms to anyone younger than 21 as part of a plan to prevent gun violence. Mark Wallheiser / AP 
   
   The governor's plan calls for a new "see something, say something" hotline, website and mobile app. And to help pay for it, Scott said he is considering abandoning more than $180 million in planned tax cuts and urged lawmakers to temporarily shelve plans for pursue money for hometown projects. 
   
   Scott's announcement came a day after Trump expressed support for arming teachers — an idea that many critics are calling a "colossally stupid idea." 
   
   Also, Scott's move to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill appears to be an about face for the governor, who signed a bill in 2011 that barred doctors from asking patients whether they own a gun, unless the provider "believes that this information is relevant to the patient's medical care or safety, or the safety of others." 
   
   A Florida federal appeals court in February 2017 ruled that some of the provisions were unconstitutional, including the part that prevented health providers from asking whether patients owned guns. 
   
   Trump in February 2017 rolled back an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental illnesses to purchase a gun. 
   
   While making his announcement, Scott took a swipe at Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., accusing him of not doing enough to combat gun violence. Nelson quickly swiped back. 
   
   "The governor’s plan doesn’t do one thing to ensure comprehensive criminal background checks or ban assault rifles, like the AR-15," Nelson said in a statement. "His leadership is weak and by recommending raising the age to 21 he is doing the bare minimum. Enough is enough. We need to get these assault rifles off our streets and expand criminal background checks for anyone acquiring a gun.” 
   
   The developments came on the heels of revelations that Scot Peterson, the Broward County sheriff's deputy assigned to protect Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, never went inside the school or tried to stop the accused 19-year-old gunman. 
   
   CORRECTION (Feb. 23, 2018, 1:25 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated the first name of a Democratic Florida senator. He is Bill Nelson, not Ben. ||||| But the movement for hardening isn’t just impractical or lacking in evidentiary support; it’s also a dystopian stroke of authoritarianism that runs deeply counter to the ideas embodied in the Constitution. Increasingly militarized school resource officers don’t just passively wait for mass shootings; they have daily encounters with students that appear to be increasing in frequency. Brutality is endemic. Mother Jones chronicled 28 serious student injuries and one death from 2010 to 2015 in such encounters. The brunt of those brutal incidents and arrests falls on black students, and high-profile incidents of officers kicking students, choking them, handcuffing third-graders, and slamming students to the ground are all too common. 
   
   While most teachers are fiercely dedicated to their students, steady reports of abuse from some teachers, as well as reports of racial slurs and racial bias, should be strong reasons to be skeptical of arming teachers. Especially in the often-fraught environments of under-resourced classrooms, it’s probably not a good idea to have anybody with a gun present. 
   
   More broadly, hardening proposals posit that the only way to keep kids safe is to raise them in police states, kept under guard by killer drones, assault rifles, and armed teachers. As Coaston writes, these setups will almost certainly tend towards gross violations of students’ First Amendment rights to speech and Fourth Amendment rights to privacy, and will do so along already-established lines of race and class. As a person who attended a school where violence by resource officers was a fact of life for low-income black students, I can offer at least anecdotal support for this argument. 
   
   But hardening proposals also exhibit a circular logic that runs deeply counter to the spirit of the Second Amendment. Again, that provision implies a duty to resist tyranny, in all the forms of military, surveillance, and governmental overreach that helped spark the revolution. Suggestions to create a police state in American schools, however, mirror other pro-authoritarian tendencies that run counter to this instinct. In the creation of the carceral state, in the expansion of drug laws, and in the extreme militarization of police in recent years, people have argued that placing more guns in the hands of authorities is the only way to keep people safe. But why would pro-Second Amendment enthusiasts be in favor of providing more firepower to the government? 
   
   One legal theory used to oppose the preferences of many defenders of the Second Amendment is based on the fact that the militarized American police state has advanced far beyond the ability of any possible well-regulated militia to stop it. But lost in that observation is the fact that Americans—many of them staunch gun-rights advocates—have pushed repeatedly to bolster the military and the creep of militarism into other civic arenas. They’ve then trapped the country in an arms race between government and civilians, one in which civilians face severe losses from both state and private violence. And now students, protected in schools by the most basic tenets of the social contract, find themselves in the line of fire.
target: – Just over a week after the murder of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida Gov. Rick Scott unveiled a plan Friday to keep his state's students safer: a $500 million proposal to ban bump stocks, restrict people under age 21 from purchasing guns, and prohibit the "violent or mentally ill" from buying weapons, NBC News reports. "I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who is a danger to themselves or others to use a gun," Scott said, per the New York Times. The age restriction would mark Scott's first big rebuff of NRA policy, per the Washington Post. "I'm an NRA member (and) a supporter of the Second Amendment," Scott said. "I'm also a father and a grandfather and a governor. We all have a difficult task in front of us balancing our individual rights with our obvious need for public safety." Among the initiatives included in Scott's plan are revamping building security to include metal detectors, better locks, and bulletproof glass; placing a "law enforcement officer in every public school"; and working more on "mental health initiatives." What Scott isn't pushing for: banning the AR-15 rifle, which was the type of weapon used in the shooting, and arming teachers, as President Trump and others have called for (to much criticism) in recent days. "Banning specific weapons … is not going to fix this," Scott said. He also said he'd rather see "well-trained" members of law enforcement brought in to protect schools than hand weapons to educators. "We must take care of our kids," he said, per CNN. On Wednesday, the NRA said it will fight any attempt to raise age limits, saying that move would "[punish] law-abiding citizens for the evil acts of criminals."