JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — This week’s deadly school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin once again has school safety and gun policy front and center.
Plenty of bills dealing with the issues have already been filed ahead of Florida’s 2025 legislative session.
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State Representative Dan Daley (D-Coral Springs) is sponsoring legislation that would require teachers to undergo active shooter training and another bill that would require background checks for most ammunition purchases.
“All it does is say if you are a prohibited purchaser of firearms and ammunition in this state, we’re going to check,” said Daley.
On the other end of the spectrum, some Republican lawmakers are hoping to roll back restrictions on firearms, including some passed in the wake of the Parkland shooting.
State Rep. Joel Rudman (R-Navarre) has filed legislation that would make Florida an open carry state and repeal the state’s red flag law.
Florida’s red flag law was adopted after the 2018 school shooting and gives law enforcement the ability to confiscate guns from a person deemed to pose a risk to themselves or others with permission from a judge.
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“If you love red flag laws, there are states where you can move to where you can have them until your heart is content, but that is not what the Free State of Florida is supposed to be all about,” said Rudman.
State Senator Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay) has filed a bill that would lower the age to purchase long guns from 21 to 18.
It’s another change that was implemented after Parkland.
“Telling a 19-year-old they have to get a gun from their parents or they have to buy it in a private sale transaction, but they can’t get it from a federal firearms dealer is just silly,” said Fine.
At least one top lawmaker, Senate President Ben Albritton (R-Bartow), has indicated open carry is likely dead on arrival.
On rolling back laws passed in the wake of Parkland, he expressed hesitancy.
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“At the end of the day, it’s due real caution,” said Albritton.
Committee weeks kick off on Jan. 13, and the session officially begins on Mar. 4
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