Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) said Friday that he expects Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R.) to sign a gun safety bill passed by state legislators in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland.
The measure will raise the age for buying a rifle from 18 to 21, includes measures to guard schools, and also provides for mental health treatment.
"I believe he'll sign it today," Rubio stated when asked about the bill.
Rubio said the sales of hunting rifles and shotguns should not be further restricted, but he endorsed raising the age for buying semiautomatic rifles to 21. He also explained that the Florida bill only restricts the sale of rifles, not the possession of them, to those under 21.
"I would prefer that [the age requirement] not include shotguns and bolt action rifles," Rubio said. "But let me be clear about one thing for people that are concerned about this: It's not possession, so you can be 19 years old and use your father's rifle to go hunting. You just can't be the owner."
Rubio said his approach is based on accomplishing something substantive at the federal level rather than pushing bills that could never pass through the House, Senate, and White House.
"The community is demanding action," he said. "They want something done. Every time one of these things happens, nothing ever passes and the reason is, we put all of our eggs in a basket that we know doesn’t have the votes to pass."
"It takes 60 votes in the Senate, a majority in the House, and a president that will sign it. So what I have focused on in phase one of this effort is things that we can get passed that have broad bipartisan report," Rubio added.
He named several federal proposals he considers possible steps forward, including Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R., Utah) Stop School Violence Act and the NICS Denial Notification Act by Sens. Pat Toomey (R., Penn.) and Chris Coons (D., Del.). He also touted his own proposal with fellow Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D.) to incentivize states creating gun violence restraining orders.
"Senator Nelson and I will be offering an incentive program for states to pass what Florida just passed, a gun violence restraining order," Rubio said.
Rubio said he is open to considering legislation regarding the capacity of gun magazines.
"On the magazine capacity, it's a new issue for me in terms of considering it. There's a lot of complexity there about what the right size should be and so forth, so we're working through that," Rubio said.