TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Sen. Marco Rubio announced a gun restraining measure Wednesday that would allow anyone who suspects a person of being a potential threat to the community to seek a court order to have their weapons taken away.
Rubio spoke to News 6 about the new measure.
[Q&A: Sen. Marco Rubio talks to News 6 about proposed gun-restraining measures]
“I do think there comes a point where, if someone is a danger, they need to be reported to law enforcement, Rubio told News 6.
During a satellite interview Wednesday morning, Rubio presented a multi-point plan designed to crack down on gun violence at schools.
Rubio said he is convinced that, if the proposed plan, which includes identifying potential violent citizens, had been in place Feb. 14 , the Parkland shooting would never have occurred.
“Those are important measures in that, if those two things that existed here, identifying this killer and being able to go to court and take away his guns, we could have prevented this from happening before it happened. The best way to stop these shootings is to stop the person who is going to do the shooting,” Rubio said.
Rubio is convinced the mandate of “see something, say something” isn’t always being followed by school administrators and teachers, and this proposed legislation will create the momentum started by the Parkland tragedy.
While the proposed bill has broad bipartisan support, it falls short of stopping the sale of certain semi-automatic weapons, including the AR-15.
“I think the only impediment is people that decide, 'Well, let's not vote on this until we can hold it hostage to vote on some of the other things that are more controversial,' That would be a mistake," Rubio said.
As for the gun sales issue, Rubio said that debate is for another day.
“I don't believe that the gun control that's being proposed would stop these things from happening, because, even if you took away the certain types of guns, there are plenty of other guns that function the exact same way -- just as fast, just as powerful,” Rubio said. ”My view is we should go after the killers, not the guns.”
Rubio and fellow Florida Sen. Bill Nelson formally unveiled the proposal to reporters Wednesday afternoon.
Nelson called it a good “first step,” but emphasized that he wanted a ban on the sale of assault weapons.