After week-long nightmare, Florida teachers, students resume classes; stress on need for gun control

Florida officials have outlined their plans to make schools safer after a shooting that left 17 people dead last week, but some say they don't go far enough. Talia Rumsky is one of them.

Rumsky was among those who traveled to Tallahassee on Wednesday to lobby lawmakers about gun control. She said Gov. Rick Scott's plan to make it illegal for anyone under 21 to purchase a gun is a start, but shouldn't be the end of gun control efforts.

"This is a great first step, and we appreciate it," the sophomore said. "But it's not enough, and we're going to make sure they know it's not enough and is not solving our problems."

Scott announced plans Friday to put more armed guards in schools and to make it harder for young adults and some with mental illness to buy guns, responding to days of intense lobbying from survivors of the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland nine days ago. Scott unveiled his school safety proposals as teachers returned for the first time to the school.

While criticised by some as not going far enough, the measures are significant in a state that hasn't passed any type of gun control since Republicans took control of state government in 1999.

After days of funerals for those killed in the attack, teachers began the emotionally fraught process of returning to the school Friday to collect belongings from classrooms that have been off-limits since the slayings. Following an orientation Sunday for teachers and students, classes resume Wednesday.

Broward teachers union president Anna Fusco met with the teachers as they returned to campus Friday hailing them as "incredibly brave and strong." "I met with one that was grazed with a bullet. ... She has a hole in her arm and a bruise from her shoulder to her elbow that looks like somebody whacked her with a bat and she's like, 'I'm here because we need to get things ready,'" Fusco said.

President Donald Trump said repeatedly Friday that he favoured arming teachers to protect students, an idea many educators rejected out of hand.

Today, it was my great honor to host a School Safety Roundtable at the @WhiteHouse with State and local leaders, law enforcement officers, and education officials.

There is nothing more important than protecting our children. They deserve to be safe, and we will deliver! pic.twitter.com/WhC2AxgWXO

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018

"I am totally against arming teachers," Broward schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said. "They have a challenging job as it is." Trump told reporters Friday that schools need some kind of "offensive" capability to deter and respond to attackers.

"If they're not gun-free, if there are guns inside, held by the right people, by highly trained professionals, you're going to see this end. It won't be happening again. Our schools are essentially gun-free zones and that makes them very dangerous places," the president said.

Scott, a Republican widely expected to run for the Senate, outlined his plan at a Tallahassee news conference. In addition to banning firearm sales to anyone under 21, the governor called for a trained law enforcement officer for every school and one for every 1,000 students at larger schools by the time the fall 2018 school year begins.

BREAKING: Florida Gov. Rick Scott says the state "will require all individuals purchasing firearms to be 21 or older." https://t.co/n7TqA3VDnW pic.twitter.com/knob4wzFEK

— ABC News (@ABC) February 23, 2018

Stoneman Douglas, with more than 3,000 students, had one armed resource officer who never entered the building under attack while a gunman was shooting people inside, officials said.

That failure was compounded by confusion about what was being shown to police on school security cameras the day of the shooting and the lack of meaningful response to reports to the FBI and local police that 19-year-old suspect Nikolas Cruz might become violent, had guns and possibly would attack a school.

Florida's House speaker called it an "abject breakdown at all levels." Cruz is jailed on 17 counts of murder and has confessed to the shootings, investigators say.

A woman close to Cruz warned the FBI on Jan. 5 that he had rifles and said, "I know he is going to explode," according to a transcript of the tip to the FBI's call center, which was obtained Friday by The Associated Press. The FBI has acknowledged it failed to investigate the tip. The woman described Cruz's short temper and said he had the "mental capacity of a 12- to 14-year-old."

She said Cruz posted pictures of weapons on social media and he wrote, "I want to kill people." Among other things, the governor's $500 million plan would create a "violent threat restraining order" that would let a court prohibit a violent or mentally ill person from purchasing or possessing a firearm or any other weapon under certain circumstances.

The proposal would also strengthen gun purchase and possession restrictions for mentally ill people under the state's Baker Act, which allows someone to be involuntarily hospitalized for up to 72 hours.

Scott is seeking $50 million for initiatives that include expanding mental health services by providing counseling, crisis management and other mental health services for youth and young adults.

"No one with mental issues should have access to a gun. It is common sense," Scott said.

The governor's plan made no mention of arming teachers on school grounds.

WON’T GIVE TRUMP ADVICE ON GUN CONTROL: AUSSIE PM

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has declined to offer U.S. President Donald Trump any advice on gun control days after the latest mass shooting at a U.S. school, despite Australia's success in cutting gun violence.

Australia has some of the world's toughest gun control laws, introduced after its worst mass murder, when a gunman killed 35 people at Port Arthur in the island state of Tasmania in 1996.

Australia has had no mass shootings since then.

But Turnbull, who met Trump for talks in Washington on Friday, said he was not going to offer the United States any advice on the issue, which is dividing Americans.

Today, @FLOTUS Melania and I were honored to welcome Prime Minister @TurnbullMalcolm and Mrs. Turnbull of Australia to the @WhiteHouse!

Press Conference: https://t.co/rKokJGRsgu pic.twitter.com/PkJUw8x9jb

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 23, 2018

"It's a completely different context historically, legally and so forth," Turnbull told a news conference following talks in the White House, adding that he was satisfied with Australia's gun control.

"We certainly don't presume to provide policy or political advice on that matter here," Turnbull said, according to a transcript of the news conference released by the prime minister's office.

The issue of gun control in the United States became the focus of renewed debate on Feb. 14, when a former student killed 17 people at school in Florida with a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle he had bought legally.

Australia has banned all semi-automatic rifles and all semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns, and has a restrictive system of licensing and ownership controls.

Australia's system has been held up by many as an example of how gun controls in the United States should be tightened.

Trump has suggested arming teachers as a way of curbing gun violence in schools.

On bilateral relations, Turnbull said his meeting with Trump had "deepened" the relationship between the allies.

The two leaders discussed North Korea, with Turnbull expressing supported for U.S. sanctions and economic ties.

Turnbull praised Trump's recent tax cuts for businesses, something he is trying to replicate in Australia although he is struggling to gain the support needed from opposition parties.

Relations between the two got off to a rocky start in February 2017 when Trump berated Turnbull over a bilateral refugee agreement, before abruptly ending their telephone conversation, according to an leaked transcript of the call.