Florida House votes to repeal key provision of Parkland law and lower age to buy assault-style rifle

Jurors tour the still-horrific crime scene. Image via AP.

The Florida House passed a repeal of age limits for purchasing firearms, a key provision of gun control measures put in place after the Parkland shooting.

Republicans said the bill (HB 759) corrects an inequity in the law that denies 18-year-olds the ability to own a gun despite being old enough to become a police officer or enlist in the military. The bill passed on a 78-34 vote.

“To me, this bill is about the right to defend yourself, the right to keep and bear arms, the right to a well-armed militia. That’s what it’s about,” said Rep. Michelle Salzman, a Pensacola Republican who sponsored the bill. “For me, it’s not, it’s not about the tragedies.”

The Florida Legislature in 2018 passed the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which implemented several security provisions at schools while also requiring individuals to be 21 years old to purchase or take ownership of assault-style weapons.

Former Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican now serving in the Florida Senate, signed that law in the wake of a shooting in Parkland where a 19-year-old arrived at a school with an AR-15 purchased days prior. The shooting left 17 dead, including 14 students. Scott has stood by those restrictions and publicly opposed the Florida Legislature revisiting the subject.

Notably, nearly all the House members who were present when the Parkland law first passed have since left the chamber because of term limits. While there was bipartisan support when the Republican-controlled Legislature passed that law in 2018, enough Republicans in the chamber now support repealing age restrictions to fast-track legislation through multiple readings on the floor.

“In America, you have a right to vote at the age of 18,” said Rep. Judson Sapp, a Green Cove Springs Republican. “In America, if you’re a man, you must sign up for selective service at the age of 18, which means in America, we think you’re mature enough to fight and die for this country. I philosophically believe that if you are treated as an adult to defend our country and to vote in our country, we must not infringe upon your constitutional rights.”

House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, a Tampa Democrat, noted that the age limits in Florida law have upheld challenges in court, including a recent ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“There is no legal reason to reverse course today,” she said. “In fact, the court said that we could have gone further, because when they analyzed the history and tradition of regulating firearm access by children, the court noted we could have been more restrictive. And in fact, there are other states that have been even more restrictive than Florida, and I think there’s no restriction that goes too far, frankly, if it comes to protecting our kids.”

Republicans on the House floor shot down a Democratic amendment that would have gutted the proposed change in age restrictions.

Rep. Robin Bartleman, a Weston Democrat, pushed the language on the floor that would leave the gun-buying age at 21 years old. Bartleman served on the Broward County School Board at the time of the Parkland shooting and said the experience of facing mourning families has stayed with her.

“The families came to Tallahassee and asked for more than thoughts and prayers. And this body, along with the Senate and the Governor, gave them more than thoughts and prayers,” Bartleman said. “They passed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Act, a bipartisan act, because all of the studies show that it makes sense to raise the purchase age to 21.”

While the legislation had strong support in the House, it appears to have no path to passage in the Senate. Sen. Jay Collins, a Tampa Republican, has filed a similar bill (SB 920) in the upper chamber, but it isn’t yet on a Committee agenda. Senate President Ben Albritton, who supported the Parkland law when he served in the House, has not signaled any interest in revisiting the gun-buying age.