Florida House to hear bill lowering rifle purchase age

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A controversial Florida bill to reduce the age to purchase a rifle or other long gun from 21 to 18 will be heard on the house Floor this week. 

Democratic Minority House Leader Fentrice Driskell called the bill a betrayal to the families of victims of the Parkland school shooting. 

In 2018, the state increased the age to buy firearms from 18 to 21 after the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that killed 17. 

House Bill 759, sponsored by Republican Representative Michelle Salzman, seeks to reverse that requirement. 

While presenting the bill In a subcommittee last week, Salzman said the 2018 decision was made in a moment of anxiety. 

“When you are 18 years of age, you can sign into a contract, you can get married, you can get divorced, you can join the military, you can be sentenced to death,” Salzman said.

Democratic Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell calls the bill reckless. 

“Both law enforcement leaders and survivors have repeatedly said that the 21 and up provision works. Yet this Republican legislature is willingly choosing to ignore those on the front lines, and the communities that are still grieving,” Driskell said.

She also questioned Republicans’ motives for pushing this bill. It was supported by the National Rifle Association. 

The bill is set to be heard on the house floor on Wednesday.

Also this week, the House will take a look at possibly overriding some vetoes from Governor Ron DeSantis.

The House will consider overriding vetoes for four projects totaling over 5 million dollars. 

Projects include water systems in Central and North Florida, veterans benefits, and staffing systems for the Florida Department of Corrections. 

Driskell said her party is glad the legislature is taking a look at the vetoes.

She said last year, DeSantis vetoed infrastructure items that could have made a difference for the Tampa area. 

“If those projects had been allowed to stand, then it’s perhaps that – or it’s possible rather – that some of that infrastructure that would’ve been greatly needed in Tampa Bay could’ve helped avoid some of the dramatic flooding we saw after we suffered those hurricanes last fall,” Driskell said.

During Hurricane Milton, areas in flood zones considered less prone to flooding received major damage.

Currently, Hillsborough County is undergoing an independent investigation of what could have gone wrong.