DeSantis says he would have vetoed Parkland gun bill if he were governor

Congressman Ron DeSantis told a crowd of pro-Trump supporters that he would have vetoed the Legislature's Parkland gun bill if he were governor, according to the Sun Sentinel.

"I would have vetoed it," DeSantis, one of the leading Republican candidates for governor, briefly told a reporter Monday night after speaking to the Palm Beach County Donald Trump Club.

DeSantis has mostly avoided both the press and questions about how he would have responded to the Parkland shooting if he were governor.

In March, he gave a nuanced written statement about it, but did not say he would have vetoed the bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott.

"Better to focus on denying firearms to dangerous individuals, which avoids infringing on constitutional rights and is also more likely to be effective," DeSantis said.

The bill raised the age that someone can buy a rifle in Florida to 21, and it included $400 million in funding for mental health, school hardening and training to arm some school staff.