Sen. Rick Scott on Tuesday took action in response to the recent Nashville school shooting that looks a lot like what he did as Florida governor after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
Five years ago, he led an effort to provide armed police officers in every public school in Florida. Now he wants to do the same across the nation with his new “School Guardian Act.”
“The recent shooting of innocent children and educators in Nashville showed us that we need to do better to keep our schools safe, and that starts by bringing effective ideas like our Guardian Program to every school across our nation,” Scott said during a news conference Tuesday. “These brave individuals are willing and able to step up and protect our kids and teachers from those who wish to do them harm.”
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What is the School Guardian Act?
The act would divert $80 billion designated for the IRS to a national grant program that would provide one or more full-time, armed officers in every K-12 school across the country.
There are more than 128,000 K-12 schools in the U.S., according to the Department of Education.
Scott, who is up for reelection in Florida next year, introduces his new act as Congress is under pressure to respond to a wave of mass shootings and gun violence across the country.
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Democrats, including President Joe Biden, have called for a federal assault weapons ban, increased background checks and other measures to take guns off the streets. Scott and other Republicans have resisted any attempts to tighten gun laws.
“It’s too bad we have to think about this, but we do,” Scott said. “The truth is, every school is going to need law enforcement. Every kid ought to be protected.”
Some of the parents who lost their children in the Parkland, Florida shooting five years ago support Scott’s plan and joined him at the Tuesday news conference.
“If we can’t prevent them, then we know having an armed response on campus is the fastest way to stop these attacks,” said Ryan Petty, a state Board of Education member whose 14-year-old daughter, Alaina, died in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. “This bill is incredibly important.”
“No family should have to go through the indescribable heartbreak of having their child or spouse murdered at school,” said Tony Montalto, whose 14-year-old daughter Gina died in the Parkland shooting. “It is essential that parents feel comfortable sending kids to school every day.”
Though Scott’s bill might have enough support to pass the Republican-led House, it’s unlikely to make it out of committee in the Senate led by Democrats.
With Washington stuck in partisan gridlock, most of the action on gun laws has been happening in the states, with several moving to ban the sale of assault weapons.
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Contributing: Associated Press
Candy Woodall is a politics editor for USA TODAY. She can be reached at cwoodall@usatoday.com or on Twitter at @candynotcandace.