Florida bill lowering age to purchase long guns to 18 advances in Florida House

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A bill lowering the age to purchase long guns like rifles and shotguns from 21 down to 18 is moving in the Florida House.

The age was originally raised as part of the legislation passed in the wake of the Parkland shooting and that put Florida among just seven states that require a person to be at least 21 to purchase any time of firearm.

Ziadeh Farhat with Green Acres Sporting Goods told Action News Jax before lawmakers raised the age, it was uncommon for 18 to 20-year-olds to come to the store looking to purchase assault-style rifles.

”Mostly it was hunting rifles and shotguns,” said Farhat.

He said he believes the law went too far, making it more difficult for legal adults to protect their homes and hunt.

”They just clearly put all long guns on that same umbrella,” said Farhat.

But under State Representative Bobby Payne’s (R-Palatka) new bill, Florida would once again allow those 18 and up to purchase long guns, including assault-style weapons.

”An 18-year-old can serve in the military, he can sign a contract, he is of the age of majority. The age of maturity is 18 years old. 43 other states allow this so, I feel like we should conform with the other 43 states,” said Payne in the bill’s first committee hearing Monday.

Gun safety advocates like Katherine Allen, a survivor of the Parkland shooting, argued the law has made the state safer.

“In my school, Uvalde, Buffalo, the shooter legally purchased a gun before turning 21,” said Allen.

After the age was raised, the law was challenged by the NRA.

A federal appeals court recently upheld the age restriction, which led State Representative Michele Rayner-Goolsby to question why Republicans are pushing to revert back to an age limit of 18.

“When we are having shooting, after school shooting, after school shooting, there are children dying in my district and this gun violence is happening by 18, 19, 20-year-olds, that we are slapping people in the face when we’re saying whelp, let them go have a gun,” said Rayner-Goolsby.

But supporters of lowering the age argued safeguards like a three-day waiting period and background checks will remain in place to prevent weapons from falling into the wrong hands.

”If a 19 or 20-year-old single mother, especially in a rural area like where I live six or eight miles out in the country, she ought to be able to go buy a firearm to defend her and her small child,” said State Representative and bill co-sponsor Chuck Brannan (R-Lake City).

The bill so far has not found a Senate sponsor, but Representative Payne told Action News Jax he’s still optimistic the bill will pass.

If it does, the age limit to purchase a pistol will remain 21 years old, which is mandated by federal law.

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