Parkland school shooter spared from execution for killing 17
A jury spared Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz from the death penalty Thursday for killing 17 people at a Parkland high school in 2018, sending him to prison for the remainder of his life in a decision that left many families of the victims angered, baffled and in tears.
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 Valentine’s 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 “Alyssa’s Law,” in honor of 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff, one of the students killed three years ago.
Father of victim reflects on three years since Parkland school shooting
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sunday marks three years since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. So every day is like Sunday for me.”On Thursday, Schachter helped launch the first statewide dashboard to reduce school violence — School Incident Report. Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, along with Wisconsin’s 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. “The Trump administration agreed with my idea, they created this school safety clearinghouse.”AdSen. Rubio said this centralized source for best school safety practices will provide schools some consistency nationwide.
3 years after Parkland, lawmakers mixed on Florida’s gun laws
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Sunday will mark three years since the Parkland High School mass shooting that left 17 students and staff dead. Manuel Oliver’s son, Joaquin, was one of the 17 killed in the Valentine’s 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.
Gov. DeSantis signs school panic alarm bill
Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill that will require each public school in the state to have a panic alert system starting in the 2021-2022 academic year. The bill (SB 70), which passed during the legislative session that ended in March, was named Alyssas Law, after Alyssa Alhadeff, a student who was among 17 people killed in the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The panic-button systems will be required to link to local law-enforcement agencies, with a goal of improving coordination and reducing response times by first responders during emergencies. DeSantis did not publicly comment about the bill Tuesday, but House and Senate sponsors announced that he had signed it. In the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, milliseconds mattered -- and the lack of real-time coordination between first responders likely cost precious lives, Senate sponsor Lauren Book, D-Plantation, said.
Florida Supreme Court blocks assault weapon ban from ballot
A group called Ban Assault Weapons Now sponsored the proposed constitutional amendment, inspired by the mass shooting at a Parkland high school that left 17 people dead. While the ballot summary purports to exempt registered assault weapons lawfully possessed prior to the Initiatives effective date, the Initiative does not categorically exempt the assault weapon, only the current owners possession of that assault weapon. The ballot summary is therefore affirmatively misleading, the court wrote in its opinion. But since the petitions used the language the court says is invalid, the group cant simply tweak the ballot summary. Attorney General Ashley Moody opposed the ballot initiative, as did the National Rifle Association, which hired a legal team to fight it.
Judge scraps mediation in gun lawsuit
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. The National Rifle Association and Florida officials will avoid mediation in a lawsuit challenging a 2018 state law that prevents people under age 21 from purchasing firearms, under an order issued this week by a federal judge. The law raised the age from 18 to 21 to purchase long guns, such as rifles and shotguns. Accordingly, the issues involved in this case are not amenable to mediation. Mediation would not be a productive exercise, nor would it be a worthwhile use of the parties, or the courts, resources, the lawyers wrote. In Mondays order granting the request, Walker wrote this court finds good cause has been shown why the mediation requirement should be waived.
Gun safety bill stalls in Florida Legislature
It would also strengthen laws governing gun storage and introduce new requirements for private sales. “We need four Republican votes would be my guess in the Senate to pass a bill and it would shock me if we don’t have four Republican votes for common sense gun safety,” Lee said last month. And as session reached its midpoint, Senate President Bill Galvano signaled the measure still had many obstacles to overcome. “Anytime a bill’s sponsor is pessimistic about passage of a massive gun control bill it’s a good thing," former NRA President Marion Hammer said. We continue to watch, we continue to work and we continue to fight.”Even if the bill were to pass the Senate, convincing the House and the Governor would likely be a daunting task.