Wiith survivors of the Parkland massacre watching, the Florida House voted down a bill to ban the kind of gun that Nikolas Cruz to murder 17 students and teachers only days ago.

This is from the Sun-Sentinel of Florida:

 

With Stoneman Douglas students watching, Florida House declines to take up assault weapons ban
Less than a week after 17 people were fatally shot at a Florida high school, the state House has voted down a motion to take up a bill that would ban assault rifles, effectively killing the measure for this session.

The motion failed by a 36-71 vote.

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were in the gallery to watch the vote. An Associated Press photo showed Stoneman Douglas junior Sheryl Acquarola, 16, overcome with emotion, alongside several other students.

As the Florida House opened its session Tuesday, Democratic Rep. Kionne McGhee asked for a procedural move that would have allowed it to consider a bill to ban assault rifles and large capacity magazines.

He said the move stemmed from the massacre last week that has refueled a national debate about gun control.

The bill had been assigned to three committees but was not scheduled for a hearing. The committees won’t meet again before the legislative session ends March 9.

McGhee said that means the bill would be dead unless the House voted to remove it from the committees and let it be considered by the full House.

Republican leaders in the House and Senate say they will consider proposals including raising age restrictions for gun purchases and the red-flag bill regarding temporarily taking away someone’s guns if they are deemed a threat to others.

The House did not debate the merits of the bill because McGhee’s motion involved a procedural issue. But the House voted 71-36 to reject taking up the measure on the floor.

Nikolas Cruz is accused of using an AR-15 rifle, a type of weapon that would be covered under the bill.
A Senate version of the bill (SB 196), filed by Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, also has not been heard in committees.

Meanwhile, a Florida Senate committee endorsed a proposal to put law enforcement officers in every school in the state.

Only slightly more than half of Florida’s more than 4,000 public schools have the resource officers. They are sworn law-enforcement officers and allowed to carry a weapon on a school campus.

The Senate Education Committee voted Tuesday to include the requirement in a sweeping education bill that is now moving through the legislature.
Information from the News Service of Florida and the Associated Press was used in this report.