After Iowa school shooting, Ron DeSantis says gun violence is a 'local and state issue'

DES MOINES, Iowa — Hours after multiple people were shot at a high school in Perry, Iowa, Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said gun violence should be addressed at the state and local level — without any new federal restrictions on firearms.

"We obviously have a responsibility to create safe environments," DeSantis said. "The federal government is probably not going to be leading that effort, I think it is more of a local and state issue, but we've shown how it's done in Florida."

Multiple people were shot at Perry High School on Thursday morning, Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante said at a news conference.

DeSantis commented on the developing situation Thursday in an exclusive interview with Des Moines Register Chief Politics Reporter Brianne Pfannenstiel and NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns in the Register's newsroom. It's part of the news organizations' "Closing Arguments: Iowa" series. 

DeSantis recalled the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when a former student opened fire and killed 17 people.

DeSantis began his first term as governor in 2019. Since then, he said, Florida has spent more than $1 billion on school security. DeSantis also signed a bill to lower the threshold for capital punishment after the Parkland shooter was spared the death penalty.

"People can count on me to hold criminals accountable, be very serious about holding accountable people that represent a danger to society, but at the same time, protecting their constitutional rights," DeSantis said Thursday.

DeSantis pointed to an "underlying sickness in society" that leads to individuals committing violent acts.

"For whatever reason, there are people in our society that really get a kick out of doing this. … That's an underlying sickness in society, and I think that involves things like mental health," he said.

What has Ron DeSantis done on guns, school safety in Florida?

Florida has passed several laws since the 2018 Parkland shooting to prepare schools for future emergencies.

Schools are required to partner with law enforcement agencies to hire an armed officer for every school facility, and a 2023 law allows schools to request a firearm detection dog.

After the Parkland shooter was spared the death penalty by a divided jury, DeSantis changed Florida's law and eliminated the unanimous jury requirement for capital punishment.

At the same time, DeSantis and the Republican-led legislature have also made changes to the state's firearm laws. Since the late 1980s, Florida has barred its cities and counties from enacting gun restrictions that are tougher than what’s in state law.

In 2021, DeSantis approved a measure that further firmed up that ban, expanding a law passed 10 years before that could force local governments in Florida cough up as much as $100,000 in damages if they’re successfully sued for a local gun regulation.

Last year, DeSantis also signed a law to loosen regulations on carrying a concealed weapon in Florida. Known as "permitless carry" or "constitutional carry," the law allows anyone who can legally own a gun to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, although guns are still prohibited on school grounds.

And bills filed for the upcoming legislative session in Florida include a Republican-backed proposal that inserts a loophole in the background check requirement for firearm purchases. It would enable a buyer to take possession of a gun without a law enforcement check of disqualifying conditions.

DeSantis says 'warning signs' need to be detected earlier, but government must respect due process

Florida is one of more than 20 states with "red flag" laws, which allow authorities to temporarily confiscate an individual's firearms and prevent them from buying more, if that person is deemed a danger to themselves or others.

In Thursday's interview, DeSantis spoke about the importance of identifying dangerous people before they act. He said there were "so many warning signs" about the Parkland shooter in 2018 that "everyone knew he was the one who did it."

However, the Florida governor did not propose a federal red flag law, and he cautioned about the importance of due process before any person has their guns confiscated.

DeSantis said he supports current laws to prohibit convicted felons and people with severe mental illness from owning firearms. But he wouldn't support a federal law to further restrict the the sale or ownership of guns, or federal laws to confiscate firearms.

"I don't support infringing the rights of law abiding citizens with respect to the ability to exercise their constitutional rights," DeSantis said.

DeSantis disagreed with Donald Trump's statement in 2018 that authorities should "take the guns first, go through due process second." Red flag laws require a judge to sign off on a petition before law enforcement may confiscate weapons.

"I mean, the whole purpose of due process is you have the right to property — not just firearms, any property," DeSantis said.

So, what happens when someone is mentally ill, has access to firearms, and may present a danger to themselves or others? DeSantis has called for increased institutionalization of people with severe mental illness.

"What you find in some of these people is clearly, you know, they have trouble functioning in society. There's massive warning signs," he said Thursday. "Of course, there needs to be due process before you would (commit them to an institution). But that used to be done in this country with much higher frequency."

Brianne Pfannenstiel and James Rosica contributed reporting.

Katie Akin is a politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at kakin@registermedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @katie_akin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: After Iowa school shooting, Ron DeSantis pitches no new gun restrictions