Florida Legislature sends bill allowing armed teachers to governor’s desk

Florida’s House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to approve a bill that would allow teachers to be armed on campus, sending the legislation to GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk.

The Florida House voted 65-47 Wednesday along party lines in favor of the measure, which was passed by the Legislature in response to last year’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 people, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

The newspaper reported that five Republicans voted with Democrats against the bill. DeSantis, who has supported the measure, is expected to sign it, according to the paper.{mosads}

Local school boards must authorize the arming of teachers, the paper reported. Teachers would have to complete at least 144 hours of training, the results of which have to be approved by law enforcement, and pass a psychological evaluation.

The legislation includes other school safety provisions, including standardizing a risk assessment process for at-risk students and proposing new guidelines on school-based mental health.

School boards representing some of the Florida’s most populous counties — including Broward, where Parkland is located — opposed the idea of arming teachers, the paper noted.

State Rep. Chuck Brannan (R) argued the measure would make schools safer. 

“This bill is the ultimate school-hardening law,” Brannan said, according to the Sentinel. “It allows the good guy to stop the bad. … The bad guy will never know when the good guy is going to be there to shoot back.”

State Rep. Mike Gottlieb (D) however, said the bill was creating a “police state.”

“Teachers need to teach,” said Gottlieb. “We need to create a more nurturing, loving environment in a school so people don’t grow up to become monsters. … We are creating a police state. It is wrong.”

The bill is the product of a state commission that was formed in the Parkland shooting’s aftermath and charged with finding ways to prevent similar attacks going forward.