TALLAHASSEE, FLA. (WSVN) - The Florida House of Representatives has subpoenaed several South Florida agencies to determine what happened before, during and after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Speaker Richard Corcoran signed and executed the order Wednesday morning, demanding documents from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, The Broward County School Board, the county itself, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the City of Coral Springs.
The House is demanding all documents and investigation findings into Nikolas Cruz.
The overall purpose is to find any shortcomings or resources to see who or what could be held accountable and make sure it never happens again.
Current law does allow the House to obtain these materials without the order, but there is no time requirement for a response.
However, the subpoenas force the agencies to turn over the information by March 9.
Since the Feb. 14 shooting, parents, students teachers and activists have made trips to Tallahassee, all lobbying for a ban on assault rifles and increased gun control.
“Thoughts and prayers will not prevent another mass shooting,” said Linda Beigel, the mother of shooting victim Scott Beigel. “Only you can enact reasonable gun control laws to prevent future mass killings.”
“Legislators, you all failed me and my little boy. I cannot wait for you to do the right thing and protect the children of this great state,” said Mac Schacter, the parent of shooting victim Alex Schacter.
However, what lawmakers currently have on the table is the Marshal Plan, which is a proposed bill that would allow teachers to arm themselves to protect students.
“I’m not sure they’re going to make as many changes as we really like,” said parent Paige Block. “We’d love to see assault weapons banned. We’d like to see magazines banned and the bump stocks. We do not believe teachers should have guns.”
Arming teachers appears to be an unpopular solution, however.
According to a new Quinnipiac poll, 56 percent of people polled do NOT want to arm teachers. Another 62 percent of people polled favor an all out ban on assault rifles. About 78 percent of people also feel that gun buyers should be at least 21 years old — something the Florida Senate and House agree with.
But the National Rifle Association said raising the age is an attack on the Second Amendment. “You can sign a legally binding contract when you’re 18. You can become a law enforcement officer when you’re 18. You can join the military and go to Afghanistan and die for your country, but they don’t want you to have a rifle or shotgun?” said Marion Hammer of the NRA.
A final Florida gun reform bill is expected to reach Gov. Rick Scott by the end of next week — before time expires and the session ends. Two bills will go to the House and Senate floor for final debate. Scott has less than two weeks to sign one of the bills into law.
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