Gov. Rick Scott traveled to West Palm Beach Thursday to talk about student safety and outline the plan he first introduced last Friday following the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
FULL COVERAGE: Parkland school shooting
Scott is visiting cities throughout the state to highlight his action plan to make major changes in an effort to help keep Florida students safe.
His plan includes $500 million for school safety and mental health.
The governor’s proposal comes after emergency meetings Scott organized with law enforcement, school administrators, teachers, mental health experts and state agency leadership, as well as meetings the governor hosted with Stoneman Douglas High School students.
Some of the highlights include raising the age to purchase a firearm to 21, and prohibiting anyone with mental health issues from purchasing a gun.
Scott wants one school resource officer for every 1,000 students and mandatory active shooter drills.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw also discussed the "See Something Say Something" app.
Palm Beach County StudentProtect will provide two-way communication to report threats, suspicious activity and receive information and alerts.
Also speaking Thursday was Ryan Petty whose daughter was killed in the Parkland school shooting. He said he was appearing to honor the memory of his daughter Alaina. "I want to be the last parent to get up and say he lost a daughter in a school shooting," Petty said.
Petty said he supports what Scott is trying to do about school safety. "We need to harden the schools. We need to keep guns away from those who would hurt themselves and others and we need to support mental health initiatives to get folks that are having these thoughts the help they need."
