Ana Ceballos
Almost immediately after Gov. Rick Scott signed gun-control measures that are unprecedented in the state, the National Rifle Association filed a federal lawsuit to try to block it.
Scott signed the “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Act” flanked by some of the parents who lost their children in the school mass shooting on Valentine’s Day. The legislation bans the sale of bump stocks, raises the legal age to buy an guns from 18 to 21 and creates a three-day waiting period for all firearm sales.
The NRA focuses on the provision that raises the legal age to buy a gun, saying it is violating the rights of law-abiding citizens and therefore, “unconstitutional, void and invalid.” Violating the new law would come with penalties of up to five years in prison.
John Tupps, the communications director for the governor, said the office will review the lawsuit before commenting on it.
The complaint also states that young women are at a particularly higher risk of being affected by the law.
“Females between the ages of 18 and 21 pose a relatively slight risk of perpetrating a school shooting such as the one that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, or, for that matter, a violent crime of any kind,” the suit states.
The national organization is suing Attorney General Pam Bondi and Rick Swearinger, the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The controversial bill was hastily crafted in the wake of the school shooting that left 18 dead and several others injured. Legislation was approved despite bipartisan support and opposition. In addition to the gun-control measures, the new law puts boosts funding for security and mental health services in schools.
“The gun control provisions in this bill do not enhance school safety, They merely punish law-abiding citizens for the actions of a mentally ill murderer as well as the failure of government officials who did not do their jobs,” said NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer.
2 comments
Gene Ralno
March 10, 2018 at 11:21 am
This law chafes me. I’m pushing 80 and have been driving since I was 13. I owned a .410 break-action when I was 10 and a 12 gauge semi-auto later during college. I joined the Marine Corps when I turned 17. I’ve handled all sorts of civilian and military hardware for almost 70 years. I never committed a crime. I earned an MBA. I have two successful daughters. I’ve known hundreds like me and believe this nation is home to millions like me.
I wasn’t blind to a few punks in high school and even in undergraduate school. But they were rare. Disarming millions because our society is having difficulty dealing with a few punks is part of what justified the 2nd Amendment. I believe this law is a knee-jerk appeasement of a howling pack of leftist radicals who are desperate to disarm our once great nation. I’d like to see hard, statistical evidence that simply being 18, 19 or 20 is contributory to criminal activity.
Teanna Seminerio
March 13, 2018 at 2:49 pm
I hope anyone between the agrs of 18 to 20 who’s a victim of violent crime sues the state for violating their constitutional right to self defense. This law is wrong, their punishing law abiding ADULTS for the police & FBI’s failure.
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