Marco Rubio calls for improved 'threat assessment process' to stop school shooters before they act
MIAMI - MAY 23: Florida's Speaker of the House Marco Rubio (R-FL) delivers a speech about Cuba before Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks during a Cuban Independence Day Celebration at the InterContinental Hotel May 23, 20
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are debating classroom security measures to ensure student safety across the country, one week after the Uvalde elementary school massacre left more than 20 people dead, including 19 children.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., joined the "Brian Kilmeade Show" to discuss his approach in preventing potential school shooters from committing mass atrocities, stressing the importance of flagging concerning behavior beforehand.
"It's so important that all this information be fed into a threat assessment process," Rubio told host Brian Kilmeade. "That has to be applied, obviously, at the local level, and that involves multiple people feeding into the threat assessment because a bunch of people are going to see those threats."
"The school district, the local law enforcement, family and friends, social media companies, hospitals and other juvenile justice system, but none of that right now in many places is being combined," he continued.
Rubio explained the threat assessment system used by U.S. Secret Service could prevent more school massacres, because if used effectively, individuals could be stopped in their tracks even if they have a clean record.
The assessment process provides a more "full picture" of the individual and any threat they may pose to society, according to Sen. Rubio.
"In many cases, they've done a lot of things that are worrisome, but they haven't violated the law," Sen. Rubio explained. "So you've got to add new information to that, and that's why this is a valuable thing."
Being able to intervene is critical in utilizing an effective threat assessment process to stop shooters, according to Rubio.
"The fundamental truth here is these people are passing background checks because they've never committed a crime before," Rubio said.
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"When they do commit a crime, it's these horrific acts. So to me, that's the most effective way. Identify them and stop them before they act."
The Florida senator explained despite concerns surrounding infringement upon Second Amendment rights, the process has been used in the Sunshine State 3,000 times and has likely prevented tragedies from occurring.
Rubio's remarks come just days after a 10-year-old Florida boy was arrested for threatening a mass shooting at his school, Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral.
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