Florida passed a school safety bill yesterday, but first let me tell you how the rest of the media will report it, and then I’ll tell you what it really means.
If you’re scrolling through the internet today, this will be the dominant flash headline: “Florida Passes Bill Allowing School Staff To Be Armed!”
The headline isn’t wrong. The new bill will allow librarians, media specialists (whatever that is), advisors, coaches and “others” to carry a gun on school grounds. Not only does this make schools physically safer, but it also sends a message to any would-be mass murderer that Florida schools are now off limits. It will now be in the back of their minds that if they raise their barrel in a school, it will be met with multiple barrels aimed back at them.
The new bill also provides $300 million in funding for mental health programs, school resource officers and school safety upgrades.
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This is all great news, but after taking this important step forward, the State of Florida took a gigantic leap backward. Mixed in with all the measures that actually WILL improve school safety, the Florida House of Representatives got to work doing what they REALLY wanted to get out of this crisis, and that’s gun control.
First of all, the bill restricts firearms purchases for everyone under 21. Where oh where do I begin with this?
Let’s start with the most obvious. How can you approve a bill that nullifies the Second Amendment to anyone aged 18 to 20? I mean, because when you get right down to it, that’s what this does. The State of Florida is now saying to their estimated 1 million or so ADULTS in that age bracket that the Bill of Rights simply doesn’t apply to them.
Also, how many mass murderers in the past five years have been under the age of 21?
The answer is two! The vast majority are in their upper 20s, 30s and 40s. I don’t wanna give them any more fuel to crap all over the Second Amendment, but they’re not even targeting the right age group.
So, to the 18-year-old living on your own, and struggling to get by in a rough neighborhood, Florida has declared that it’s safer for you to not be able to protect yourself. If someone breaks into your home and attacks you, DON’T WORRY! You can call the police AFTER it’s all over.
The same applies to the 20-year-old single mother and the 19-year-old veteran, who Florida agrees can carry a gun in a war zone… just not in their own state.
The bill goes on to require a three-day waiting period to buy all guns, which is pointless, and a mandate for background checks, which is already the law.
Florida took some good steps with allowing teachers to carry guns and allocating money for mental health and security upgrades, BUT hidden within all of these cries to “do something!” are always these little chunks of freedom that are slowly getting whittled away.
Before long, if we’re not careful, freedom will be a long-forgotten memory.
This article was originally published on GlennBeck.com.