As is so frequently the case after a tragedy, the Florida legislature decided it had to DO SOMETHING after the Parkland school shooting in 2018. In addition to enacting a three-day waiting period on gun purchases and a shiny new “red flag” confiscation law, the best legislative minds in the Sunshine State also raised the minimum age for buying long guns from 18 to 21 years old.
Now, seven years later, the waiting period and red flag law are still in place, but there’s a push to lower the age to purchase long guns back to the legal age of majority so that any law-abiding adult can avail him/herself of their right to keep and bear arms. Legislate in haste, repeal at leisure.
From the Tallahassee Democrat . . .
The bill (HB 133) now is cleared for consideration by the full House when the Legislature convenes Jan. 13, made up of a GOP supermajority that generally favors Second Amendment-related legislation. The House Judiciary Committee met Dec. 2 to deliver the last committee vote.
Keep in mind that 18-to-20-year-olds can lawfully carry a handgun now in Florida. But legally buying one is apparently too much to handle.
As you’d expect, all of the usual suspects have been outraged as this long, drawn-out effort to correct a legislative misstep has progressed. As our dear friends at Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown civilian disarmament advocacy operation put it . . .
“Let’s not mince words, this is a slap in the face to anyone whose life was forever changed after the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland. This is a slap in the face to gun survivors across our state, period,” said Katie Hathaway, a volunteer with the Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Teenagers have no business buying deadly weapons, especially not weapons of war like an AR-15. It is shameful that our lawmakers would rather cower to the gun lobby than stand up against legislation that is so obviously dangerous.
Not to be out-done someone from Giffords chimed in, too . . .
Catherine Donovan of the Giffords gun safety organization told lawmakers the age requirement “was a moment of courage in our state. It was a promise that we would learn from the tragedy, and we would do better. HB 133 breaks that promise.”
But the rationale here is simple . . .
“In my view this is the correct public policy to pursue to restore the rights of law-abiding citizens,” [House Republican Leader Tyler] Sirois said.
Yes. The full house votes in January. Stay tuned.