Just because Governor Scott has signed the school safety bill into law, don’t expect local educators to start packing weapons along with their lunches on school campuses anytime soon.

There is little or no local enthusiasm by Tampa Bay area school districts for that provision of the new law.

Pasco Superintendent Kurt Browning went so far as to ask the governor to veto that section of the measure.

“I strongly support funding for school safety measures, but putting this money into a program that virtually no one supports is misguided and infringes on elected Constitutional officers’ local control,” Browning said in a statement Friday.

Even the governor opposed arming educations and he pointed out Friday that part of the law is optional.

“If counties do not want to do this, they simply can say ‘no,’” Scott said.

One thing the law does not make optional or mandatory is closing the gun show and private sales loophole.

Generally speaking, there is a patchwork of local exceptions, background checks and waiting periods are not required for private sellers and buyers of firearms in Florida. Despite all the ballyhoo over Senate Bill 7026, that didn’t change a bit.

“I believe the loopholes with the private sales is definitely something we need to figure out,” said Northeast High School student Tracy Foskey. She was a part of a delegation of Northeast H.S. students who spent Feb. 28 in Tallahassee, lobbying lawmakers for school safety.

“What’s the point of protecting the sales from stores if we’re not going to do something about the private sellers as well?” Foskey said.

Foskey and three other fellow students are still divided on the question of banning assault-type firearms, something else the new legislation does not do.

“I feel it’s a part of our Second Amendment,” said fellow student Rachel Early.

The legislation may not be the perfect solution to improving safety in our schools, but the Northeast H.S. students who fought for reform believe it’s an impressive start.

“I really feel our generation is finally making an impact,” said Northeast sophomore Jacob Ofei.

“We’re all about progression, not just it’s perfect one time,” added Abbie Cunningham. “So if this is where it starts, then this is where it starts.”