The Florida legislature will consider a bill that would allow school superintendents to decide if certain employees can carry a concealed weapon on school property.
The bill, Senate Bill 180, was approved by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and has a House version, House Bill 19, which has been approved by two committees already. The senate bill would only allow former law enforcement or military personnel to become armed school security. Additionally, background checks, training programs and concealed-weapons permits would be required, according to highlandstoday.com.
Some school board members were publicly against the bill and didn’t think it was necessary to arm school resource officers, who often cover multiple schools at once in Florida. The Florida Sheriff’s Office said it would cost roughly $500 million to put a school resource officer in every Florida school.
This is not the first time someone has proposed arming school employees. Last year a similar bill was approved by the Florida House but not in the Florida Senate.
