Florida lawmakers pass gun-control bill

Miami, March 8: Florida lawmakers have passed a bill that would impose new restrictions on firearm sales and allow some teachers and staff to carry guns in school, in defiance of the tiol Rifle Association (NRA) which opposed the legislations firearm limitations, the media reported.

The arjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which passed the State Sete on Monday and will now head to Governor Rick Scott, would raise the minimum age to purchase any firearm to 21 from 18; impose a three-day waiting period on gun purchases; fund school police officers and mental health counsellors; and allow local school districts and sheriffs to arm certain school personnel. It would also ban so-called bump stocks, which make guns fire faster, and give law enforcement more power to commit people deemed a threat.

While the gun bill was the first to pass in the state in years, it fell short of the demands of many of the students and educators who have in recent weeks led a tiol call for stronger firearm restrictions. (IANS)