TALLAHASSEE (970 WFLA) -- Surrounded by parents of the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Governor Rick Scott signed the school safety bill passed by the Legislature this week.
Scott said the bill does many of the things he asked for, including increasing funding for mental health services, banning bump stocks and raising the age for purchasing a rifle to 21.
The governor still objects to the provision giving school districts money to train employees to concealed carry on campus. But he likes the fact that lawmakers did not mandate arming school workers. He asked that school districts that don't spend money on arming employees be allowed to use the money allocated by the Legislature to hire law enforcement officers instead.
Scott says he read the bill line by line, spoke with victims' families and with his own family, and prayed before signing it.
He said lawmakers' quick response, coming three weeks after the Parkland massacre, is in stark contrast to the environment in Washington.