WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, Senator Rick Scott published an op-ed in The Washington Post on his support of “red flag” laws to help prevent mass shootings and keep our communities safe.

In the op-ed, Senator Rick Scott wrote, “Since the evil killing sprees in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, this past weekend, I’ve tried to spend more time listening and thinking than talking. The pontificating and the politicking of elected officials do nothing to help grieving families or reassure Americans who fear that their friends or loved ones could be next.

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In Florida, about three weeks after the Parkland shooting — and after the views of experts in mental health, education and law enforcement were taken into account — I signed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act into law, surrounded by the families of those who tragically lost their lives.

Now, in the aftermath of the shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Washington should stop the partisan bickering and get to work on solutions. The steps we took in Florida, in addition to committing $400 million to increasing school safety, included a “red flag” provision. Properly constructed, the extreme risk protection order, as it’s known, is a common-sense public safety measure.

Anyone who has threatened self-harm, has threatened to harm others or is mentally unstable should not have access to a gun. At all. You can call it an infringement on rights if you want. I don’t care. Just get guns away from such people.

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We can’t bring back the 31 lives lost this past weekend in the shootings in El Paso and Dayton, or the 17 Parkland victims. But we can commit now to increasing safety measures so that fewer families and fewer communities face these tragedies.”

Read the full op-ed in The Washington Post HERE.

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