GUN CONTROL rally in Washington D.C. by high school students (Wikipedia/Lorie Shault).

Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced on Friday that he supported a ban in his state on the sale of all firearms to anyone under the age of 21. He also called for a prohibition on the sale and possession to people declared mentally ill.

Additionally, Scott stated that by the end of the year, he wanted every public school in the state staffed with at least armed security guard for every 1,000 students. His announcement came in the wake of the discovery that the Parkland high school where a gunman killed 17 people had sheriff’s deputy on site during the shooting who failed to engage the killer.

President Donald Trump called him – identified at Scot Peterson – as “either a coward or failed to react” properly. The president also called for arming teachers.

Gates to plead guilty to federal charges

Rich Gates, a one-time adviser to President Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was set to appear in federal court on Friday to plead guilty to federal conspiracy and false statement charges in connection with the special counsel’s Russian investigation.

Gates is facing as well as 12.5 years in federal prison is convicted, although his guilty please is expected to reduce that.

National mood not optimistic, says poll

A majority of Americans think conditions in the United State are getting worse, according to a poll released Friday.

The AP-NORC poll indicated that 52 percent of those polled were unhappy with how things are going, compared to 29 percent who felt conditions were better and 19 percent who said things hadn’t changed much.

As for their expectations for the future, 47 percent expected things to get worse in the coming year, while 28 percent expected improvement and 24 percent thought there wouldn’t be much change.

Generally, the results of the 1,337-person poll tracked with their political affiliation, as Democrats and independents tended to think conditions were bad and/or getting worse, while Republicans were more positive.

U.S. moves in fourth place in medal count

Highlighted by the U.S. women’s hockey team winning the gold medal with a 3-2 win over Canada, the American team at the Pyeong Chang Olympics had moved into fourth place.

Norway remains in first with 37 modals overall (including 13 gold), followed by Canada with 27 (10 gold), Germany with 26 (13 gold) and the U.S. with 21 (eight gold). In fifth is the Netherlands with 18 medals (eight gold).