Proposal would lower gun-buying age in Florida from 21 to 18
A House Republican from Northeast Florida on Thursday renewed an attempt to lower the minimum age from 21 to 18 for people to buy rifles and other long guns in Florida, potentially reversing part of a law that passed in the aftermath of the 2018 mass shooting at Parklandโs Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
โOne personโs not enoughโ: State leaders considering expansion of Floridaโs school guardian program
The guardian program was introduced after the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and provides a framework for armed safety officers to police public and charter schools.
Florida massacre families to get millions for FBI's inaction
Federal officials have confirmed that the U.S. Department of Justice has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the families of most of those killed and wounded in a 2018 Florida high school massacre over the FBIโs failure to stop the gunman even though it had received information he intended to attack.
Appeals court strikes down challenge to prevent armed school guardians
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ An appeals court says armed school guardians can be allowed on school campuses, striking down a challenge pushed by Duval County parents. A Duval County judge disagreed, and now the appeals court has upheld that ruling. That shooting led several school districts, including Duval County Public Schools, to create the school guardian program. Some argued that having armed guardians would cause more harm than good. The panel detailed changes made by lawmakers that aimed to create an exception from that law for school guardians.
โEnhanced securityโ to continue Tuesday at DCPS high schools
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ As a precaution, Duval County Public Schools plans to continue enhanced security screening at district high schools when students return to class on Tuesday. Tracy Pierce, spokesperson for DCPS, said there was no specific threat and that the decision was made out of an abundance of caution. Itโs unclear how long the district plans to keep the measures in place. The district is encouraging anyone who sees a threat on social media to share it with their school or police. One way to do that is to report suspicious activity at schools through the Fortify FL app or on www.getfortifyfl.com.
Gov. DeSantis orders flags at half-staff Sunday to honor 17 lives lost in Parkland school shooting
Ron DeSantis ordered flags across the state be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset Sunday to honor the 17 lives lost in the Parkland school shooting. Authorities said a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School opened fire on campus with an AR-15 rifle on Valentineโs Day in 2018. When the gunfire ended, 14 students and three staff members were dead, and 17 others were wounded. In his proclamation for a day of remembrance, DeSantis asked fellow Floridians to pause for a moment of silence at 3 p.m. Sunday. The panic alert measure was dubbed โAlyssaโs Law,โ in honor of 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff, one of the students killed three years ago.
On Parkland anniversary, Biden calls for tougher gun laws
President Joe Biden used the the occasion to call on Congress to strengthen gun laws, including requiring background checks on all gun sales and banning assault weapons. The president used the occasion to call on Congress to strengthen gun laws, including requiring background checks on all gun sales and banning assault weapons. "For those of us who lost loved ones that day, it's pretty much like any other day. Even before the Parkland tragedy, there was already plenty of anguish in Florida over gun violence. โToday, as we mourn with the Parkland community, we mourn for all who have lost loved ones to gun violence,โ he said.
On Parkland anniversary, Biden calls for tougher gun laws
President Joe Biden used the the occasion to call on Congress to strengthen gun laws, including requiring background checks on all gun sales and banning assault weapons. The president used the occasion to call on Congress to strengthen gun laws, including requiring background checks on all gun sales and banning assault weapons. "For those of us who lost loved ones that day, it's pretty much like any other day. Even before the Parkland tragedy, there was already plenty of anguish in Florida over gun violence. โToday, as we mourn with the Parkland community, we mourn for all who have lost loved ones to gun violence,โ he said.
Father of victim reflects on three years since Parkland school shooting
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ Sunday marks three years since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. So every day is like Sunday for me.โOn Thursday, Schachter helped launch the first statewide dashboard to reduce school violence โ School Incident Report. Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, along with Wisconsinโs Sen. Ron Johnson filed the Luke and Alex School Safety Act of 2021, an identical bill as was filed last legislative session. If passed, the bill would nationally systematize the bundle of school safety information compiled at schoolsafety.gov. โThe Trump administration agreed with my idea, they created this school safety clearinghouse.โAdSen. Rubio said this centralized source for best school safety practices will provide schools some consistency nationwide.
Examining mental health strides 3 years after Parkland
She was part of the initial push to improve access to mental health services in Floridaโs public schools following the Parkland shooting. โWe need to ensure that mental health services are in place.โDr. Cauffield says with the Florida legislature allocating $69,000,000 to go to these services, students and schools now have better resources. Dr. Cauffield says the teamโs end goal is to de-escalate and assess whether a Baker Act is needed. These can be signs that your child may be suffering from a mental health condition. AdWhile strides are being made, Dr. Cauffield says for more to happen, the mental health stigma still needs to be addressed.
3 years after Parkland, lawmakers mixed on Floridaโs gun laws
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. โ Sunday will mark three years since the Parkland High School mass shooting that left 17 students and staff dead. Manuel Oliverโs son, Joaquin, was one of the 17 killed in the Valentineโs Day mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Oliver, who says her son was also her best friend, is still waiting for lawmakers to take action. AdAfter the Parkland shooting, the Legislature increased the age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21. The same legislation also allowed trained school staff to possess firearms on school grounds.
Appeals court eyes armed school guardians
Siding with the school board in December, Duval County Circuit Judge Robert Dees acknowledged that school guardians are not included in exceptions to Florida law allowing firearms on school campuses. But he found that the 2018 law authorizing guardians โin support of school-sanctioned activitiesโ allowed school safety officers to be armed. Sonja Harrell, who represents the school board, argued that lawmakers intended that school guardians be armed, saying the plaintiffs were โcherry-pickingโ legislative language to support their position. The school officials pointed out that, under the law, guardians must undergo โa significant amount of firearms trainingโ and have concealed weapons licenses. โThese statutory requirements would be unnecessary if the Legislature did not intend school guardians to use firearms in the course of their duties,โ the school boardโs lawyers argued.
Florida mothers united in tragedy push lawmakers to act
At the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, Giordano crossed paths Thursday with Lori Alhadeff, who lost her 14-year-old daughter Alyssa in the Parkland school shooting. Giordano and Alhadeff are linked over their grief of losing children and working to get lawmakers to make schools safer, albeit in different ways. Alhadeff was back to urge lawmakers to require panic buttons at schools to more quickly summon for help. Ron DeSantis, public schools would be required to have a tub or other large container filled with cold water at the sidelines during all games and practices. The proposed law would also require schools to train personnel on how to recognize signs of heat-related ailments, including potentially deadly heat strokes, and to take life-saving actions.
Secret Service study: School attackers showed warning signs
In at least four cases, attackers wanted to emulate other school shootings, including those at Columbine High School in Colorado, Virginia Tech University and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The study by the Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center is the most comprehensive review of school attacks since the Columbine shootings in 1999. Officials use that knowledge and apply it in other situations, such as school shootings or mass attacks. Since the Columbine attack, there have been scores of school shootings. The report covers 41 school attacks from 2008 through 2017 at K-12 schools.
Court rules against student on off-campus threat
The ruling Wednesday by the 3rd District Court of Appeal focused on whether the Miami Lakes Middle School student should have been shielded from prosecution because he posted the threat while off school grounds. Also, the attorneys argued that attempting to regulate off-campus speech made the law unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. The same could be said for a student seeking to interrupt standardized testing by telephoning the school from an off-campus location with a bomb threat hoax." But the court said "the statute limits any punishment for speech to that which causes a disruption to the school functions. Moreover ... the regulation punishes only that speech generating disruption, not speech merely intending to effect an impact."
Florida lawmakers propose bill to crack down on ammo sales
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Eighteen months after 17 people were killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, lawmakers are introducing a bill to crack down on the sale of gun ammunition. State Rep. Dan Daley and State Sen. Lauren Book said there's no oversight over the purchase of ammunition. "There's actual no check to make sure people don't have the ammunition," Daley said. There have 325 mass shootings in 2019, according to Gun Violence Archive. But it's more than likely that the ammunition was bought legally because of the lack of background checks on ammo purchases.
Some teachers in Florida can carry guns inside classrooms now
Copyright 2019 CNN(CNN) - As of Oct. 1, some Florida teachers can carry firearms on campus. The measure is part of a controversial bill Florida Gov. The bill authorizes school districts to implement at least one school-safety officer per public school. Some districts already arm teachers; others have banned itArming teachers was already legal in some school districts before the mass shooting in Parkland. The Florida bill entered effect on the second anniversary of the mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 people.
Lawmakers file bill to require panic buttons in public schools
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Since the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, the push to make Florida schools safer has been at the forefront. If it is passed when Florida lawmakers return to the capitol next legislative session, it could be called "Alyssa's Law". The bill would require elementary, middle and high schools to have these buttons in each of their school buildings. The panic buttons would be used for a number of emergencies including, but not limited to evacuations, lockdowns, and active shooters. VIEW PDF: House Bill 23 - "Alyssa's Law""Alyssa's Law" became law in New Jersey earlier this year.
State education officials seek more money for safety measures
The state agencys budget request, approved by the Florida Board of Education on Wednesday, also contains an additional $1.4 million to maintain school resource officers in each Florida public school. Under sweeping legislation passed shortly after the Feb. 14, 2018 shooting in Parkland, all public schools are required to have trained, armed security personnel onsite. But up until recently, many schools -- particularly charter schools -- have struggled to comply with that requirement. Corcoran acknowledged Wednesday that charter schools have struggled to have armed security certified by the state. The move to increase spending to maintain school safety officers comes days after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission blasted charter schools for not having long-term plans to have armed security on campus.
Education officials eye school safety, mental health
Addressing mental health issues and hardening schools have been two high-profile education issues in the wake of last years mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. With that in mind, Florida Department of Education officials have proposed policy changes to address those two issues. State education leaders also want to make policy changes aimed at boosting the pool of mental health professionals that can work in schools. Judd applauded the move to expand access to mental health treatment for students. Thats why we need the mental health counselors, Judd said.
Teen With Same Name as Alleged Parkland Shooter Nikolas Cruz Wants to Change It
Calls from the media flooded the home of Nikolas Marciel Cruz after a gunman opened fire at the school on Feb. 14, 2018, killing 17 and injuring many more. Nikolas Marciel Cruz lives in Sunrise, which neighbors Parkland, where Stoneman Douglas is located. It was the first of many instances where her son was confused for the teen allegedly responsible for the shooting, who authorities identified as Nikolas Jacob Cruz. Oh my god! the man exclaimed after Nikolas Marciel Cruz introduced himself, Moran said. And though Nikolas Marciel Cruz, who has high-functioning autism, plans to keep his first name, he wants a chance to start anew when he begins college, where he plans to study history, his mother said.
Florida teen tired of sharing name with accused school shooter
The suspect in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Nikolas Jacob Cruz, makes a court appearance on a closed-circuit television screen. SUNRISE, Fla. - A Florida teenager wants to change his name because he shares it with the defendant charged in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre. The mother of Nikolas Marciel Cruz told the South Florida Sun Sentinel her 18-year-old son got tired of being confused with Nikolas Jacob Cruz, the 20-year-old accused of killing 17 people. She kept her son out of his school the day after the shooting, fearing how other students and parents would react. Moran said Nikolas has high-functioning autism and wants a different name when he soon goes to college, where he plans to study history.
Company to get $1.3 million for school safety tool
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida Department of Education will pay nearly $1.3 million to a company that will revise a tool used by all public schools to identify threats and vulnerabilities on campuses. After the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, lawmakers required all school districts to complete school security risk assessments for the tool for all public schools, including charter schools. Those assessments were required to include information like a schools physical security measures, school security and operational practices, as well as crisis preparedness plans. According to a notice posted last week by the state agency, there was not a competitive bidding process for Haystax Technology to get the nearly $1.3 million contract. The agency said it picked to the company to revise the tool because the company had already gone through a competitive vetting process and was picked to develop and construct the tool.