Florida Gov. Rick Scott -- a man who has signed laws forbidding doctors from asking about patients' gun ownership and forcing municipalities to stop enforcing stricter local gun laws -- was silent today about gun laws when asked about the Sandy Hook massacre.
Scott was asked about the tragedy today by a reporter for the Times/Herald political bureau.
"I called friends this weekend that live up there," Scott said. "And I talked to one this morning who lives about 15 miles away from Newtown. And she's got young kids. So what you think about is, you think about when those things happen, you know how it -- you worry about your family."
"You personalize it because like in [my friend's] case she's got kids that age," he continued. "I think Grace is 6, 5 or 6. Grace is 5; her other daughter is 10 or 11. And you think about that, and I think about my daughter as a teacher that I don't want this to happen. I always want to make sure she taught at a safe place."
But Scott didn't have much to say right now about any changes that should be made to Florida's gun laws.
"I think the first thing you always do is you stop and say to yourself, 'Why do these things happen? What is the logical thing to do?'" he replied when asked about any actions his administration might take. "But I think right now the biggest thing is to be caring about all these families."
Meanwhile, another high profile Florida Republican had a slightly different tone.
"In the aftermath of the unspeakable tragedy in Newtown, Sen. Rubio, like millions of Americans, is looking for public policy changes that would prevent such a horrible event from happening again," a Rubio spokesman told Naked Politics. "He remains a strong supporter of the Second Amendment right to safely and responsibly bear arms. But he has also always been open to measures that would keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.
[Naked Politics: Gov. Rick Scott says Newtown families need support, not time to discuss policy]
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