Marco Rubio says he’ll introduce gun violence restraining order bill

Sen. Marco Rubio took to the Senate floor Thursday morning to outline his ideals for gun-related reforms in the wake of the high school shooting in his state that left 17 dead last month.

Rubio said this attack “could have and should have” been prevented, if federal law was fully followed. Rubio, a Republican, was present Wednesday in the president’s bipartisan meeting with members of Congress.

“This killer was a well-known danger” to the school, to the county sheriff’s office, and his neighborhood, Rubio said.

“People saw something. And people said something,” he added, saying somehow the “deranged and violent” suspect was able to take the lives of 17 people.

Rubio said he intends to introduce a new bill that will lead to the creation of gun violence restraining orders, which give law enforcement and family the chance to acquire restraining orders to keep someone who poses a threat from purchasing guns, and gives law enforcement the ability to take those guns away temporarily.

Rubio also said he will be joining Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in introducing the Stop School Violence Act. The legislation is intended to boost school security, provide schools with training to identify threats, among other things.

• Under Broward County schools’ policies, according to the school promise program, reporting a potentially dangerous student to law enforcement is the sixth step in the process, not the first.
• Someone who attempts to buy a gun and is prohibited from doing so should be investigated and prosecuted, Rubio said.
• Strengthening background check communication through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

“We need to strengthen background checks, because a background check is only as good as the information that is on it,” Rubio said.