Tony Montalto and April Schentrup
Florida lawmakers are heading into their first round of committee weeks next month, Sept. 20, to begin debating legislation ahead of the 2022 Session.
As schools statewide resume classes after an unprecedented year of challenges stemming from the COVID-19 crisis, school safety is again expected to be a top agenda item for lawmakers. Speaking on The Scoop Tuesday with Janelle Irwin and Evan Donovan, two members of the school safety group Stand With Parkland, April Schentrup and Tony Montalto, discussed ways elected officials can take further steps to make schools safer for kids, including responsible gun ownership measures often debated as controversial and partisan gun control issues.
Schentrup and Montalto, who both lost their daughters in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, also praised Florida and other states for previously passing “red flag” legislation allowing law enforcement officials to confiscate guns from owners deemed a risk to personal or public safety.
The group is also pushing federal law, the bipartisan Eagles Act, that would expand the U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center to have a greater focus on school violence prevention nationally.
More information on the group’s efforts can be found on its website. Additional resources on school safety measures in your state are also available here.
In the interview, Montalto says, “The one thing that every community that’s had a mass school shooting had in common was the belief that it could not happen to them. We’re here to tell you, it can happen anywhere. Parents need to be involved. You need to protect your children. And we hope that everyone will use the resources that are available out there to come together to find solutions. and finally get our elected leaders to move forward on all of these things to protect our most precious resource, our children.”
