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State rep wants to use county gun, ammo tax to pay for deputies in schools

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — One state representative would like to see a deputy in every Orange County school, and she's proposing the money come from an already-existing tax on guns and ammo to pay for it.

In all, it would cost $6 million to put a deputy in every Orange County elementary school for a year, but it's money the county said it doesn't have.

Orlando Rep. Linda Stewart's idea is to take part of the current sales tax on guns and ammo and dedicate it to education.

"Existing sales tax," she said. "(It's) not a new tax, not a fee of any kind."

But some parents have calculated the cost and money from the tax just wouldn't be enough to cover the funds.

To pay for deputies in each Orange County elementary school for a year, every registered gun owner in the county would have to spend $500 a year on guns and ammo, and that would only cover deputies in elementary schools.

"I think it's a start," said Stewart.

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