Editorial: Sen. Rick Scott, get to work on gun reform
Who would have thought that Florida's junior senator, Richard Lynn Scott, could be the right man to bring a gun safety measure to the U.S. Senate and rally colleagues to enact the reform? He has the experience and the credibility to do it.
"Sitting with families who have lost a parent, a child, a spouse, can have a profound effect on anyone who sees first-hand the devastation of their loss," Scott wrote in a 2019 opinion piece for The Washington Post. "I know this from personal experience...."
The question is, will the senator step up and use his experience gained from being Florida's chief executive following the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting or be content to stand pat as a partisan and politicize the issue?
Our hope springs eternal.
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Yes, the thought of Scott working on meaningful legislation to address gun violence is a longshot. He remains a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, to the point of defending gun rights "at any cost," according to his 11 Point Rescue America Plan for Republicans. He also didn't raise much confidence in promoting bipartisanship last week, when he called Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Twitter a "liar and a hack," after Schumer criticized a bill Scott had offered to bolster school security programs.
His role as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee can also be an impediment, as Sen. Scott's job outside of the chamber is to make sure that Republicans regain control of the Senate. In that job, gun reform isn't exactly a priority.
Yet, Scott remains a senator who truly understands the anguish a school shooting can produce and the hard decisions needed to address it.
As Florida governor, he bucked the gun lobby and signed legislation that raised the age limit to buy a firearm from 18 to 21, imposed a three-day waiting period on most long gun purchases and established a red flag law that allows police to confiscate weapons from people deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.
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It is that accomplishment and the senator's willingness to support federal efforts to encourage states to pass red flag laws like Florida's that puts Scott in a position to do the unexpected. Scott is no stranger to bucking the status quo. He outlined a party platform, defying Senate Republican leadership that preferred to wait until after the 2022 elections before telling the public how they'd govern as the majority political party.
It took the recent shooting deaths of 19 elementary schoolchildren and two teachers in Texas to rile the nation enough to demand that Congress come up with a significant legislative response to curb mass shootings.
To date, many Senate Republicans have either declined to take a position or have outright opposed backing bills that include strengthening background checks or bans on assault weapons. Some have settled on The Luke and Alex School Safety Act, a bill sponsored by Scott that would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to set best school safety practices for state and local educational and law enforcement agencies.
Experience and the unfolding events in Uvalde, however, call for a stronger approach. Much stronger. Hardening schools alone isn't the answer. The victims at Robb Elementary School thought they had the protection of school resource officers who failed to confront the 18 year-old gunman as he entered school property. A federal red flag law is a start but more is needed to keep weapons out of the wrong hands.
Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland and now Uvalde — mass shootings at America's schools have become mind-numbing and almost routine. In their opposition to gun safety measures, Republicans have been quick to offer "thoughts and prayers" and talk up fixing other problems, like lax school security and mental health, instead of dealing with gun proliferation. As the GOP continues to oppose common sense solutions, nothing gets done.
Whether Scott will rise to the occasion remains to be seen, but he can do himself and his political party a big favor by re-invigorating a familiar role. As an anguished nation looks to the U.S. Senate, it's time for Florida's former governor to get to work.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Sen. Rick Scott has chance to be an unlikely advocate for gun safety
