Rick Scott urges Floridians to watch Hurricane Dorian closely, says he won’t back assault weapons ban

Sep. 1--Wearing his familiar Navy cap, Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida talked Sunday about staying safe during Hurricane Dorian and confirmed that he doesn't support a ban on assault-style rifles, suggesting instead that Congress focus on "people who have problems and take away all their weapons."

In an interview with CNN's Dana Bash, Scott urged Florida residents to play close attention to the path of Dorian, which on Sunday became a historically powerful Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 185 mph and gusts to 200 mph. The forecast called for the storm to turn north and skirt the Florida coast after battering the Bahamas, but weather experts warned that could change and the state still remained within its potential landfall track.

"Think about it today," said Scott, who added that he had been part of a hurricane briefing with President Trump at Camp David. "Look at the whole [forecast] cone ... pay attention."

On gun control, Scott said he was "hopeful" that the Senate would pass legislation when it returns to Washington this month. But when asked, he would not support universal background checks or a ban on assault-style guns, which Bash called "weapons of war."

Democrats and activists have been calling for Washington to act in the wake of recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. On Saturday, a shooting in west Texas left at least seven dead and about 20 injured.

Scott suggested that Congress should follow Florida's lead in passing "red-flag" laws that allow the government to seize weapons of a person determined to be a danger to his or herself or others. Then-Gov. Scott and the Legislature approved that law after the Parkland high school shooting in 2018.

"There are young men doing things when I was growing up nobody even considered," he said. "Something's gone wrong with this country."

He did not specifically address Bash's question about whether he would support background checks. But when she asked if he would vote for an assault weapons ban, he said, "No, I'm focused on the people who have the problems."

Scott, who said he dealt with four hurricanes in his final four years as governor, came on the CNN show with the Navy cap he wore during times when storms were threatening the state. Scott served for 29 months in the Navy starting in 1979.

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