Florida Governor Rick Scott will be in Tampa on Wednesday to highlight his action plan to make major changes to help keep Florida students safe.
His plan includes a $500 million investment in school safety and mental health, according to a press release.
The Governor’s proposal, which was announced last week, followed the emergency meetings Governor Scott organized with law enforcement, school administrators, teachers, mental health experts, and state agency leadership, as well as meetings the Governor hosted with students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Governor Scott will hold a press conference on Wednesday at 9:15 a.m. at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office to discuss his action plan.
The following are the major highlights of Governor Scott's plan:
- Create the "Violent Threat Restraining Order" — Allows a court to prohibit a violent or mentally ill person from buying or owning a firearm.
- Strengthen gun buying and owning restrictions for mentally ill individuals under the Baker Act
- Prohibit a person from owning or buying a firearm if they are subject to an injunction — For protection against stalking, cyber-stalking, dating violence, repeat violence, sexual violence or domestic violence.
- Require all individuals to be 21-years-old or older to purchase a firearm
- Require mandatory School Resource Officers in every public school — Law enforcement officers must either be sworn sheriff's deputies or police officers. There should be at least one officer for every 1,000 students. Must be implemented by the beginning of the 2018 school year.
- Require mandatory active shooter training for both faculty and students — Must be completed during the first week of each semester in public schools.
- Establish a new, anonymous "See Something, Say Something" hotline, website and mobile app
- Establish funding to require access to dedicated mental health counselors for students at every school
- Provide additional $50M in funding for mental health initiatives
