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Miami (USA) - A bill that aims to lower the minimum age to buy or transfer rifles, shotguns, and other long guns from 21 to 18 advanced this Thursday in the Florida Legislature, thus reversing one of the restrictions imposed after the shooting at Parkland school that left 14 students and three teachers dead.
The Florida House of Representatives approved the measure today with a vote of 74 to 37, and a similar version is expected to head to the state Senate.You may be interested in: Video of William Levy's arrest in Florida is released
Republican lawmakers, who are the majority in the Florida Legislature, argue that adults aged 18 years old already have other civic responsibilities and therefore should be able to fully exercise their rights to possess firearms. The shooting that originally motivated the restriction occurred in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when a 19-year-old former student entered armed with an AR-15, a military-style semi-automatic rifle. The attack generated a national protest that led to the approval of laws that temporarily raised the minimum age to buy long guns to 21 years old. The event remains one of the deadliest in the history of school shootings in the United States and prompted security changes and debates about gun control across the country. The project would also allow people 18 years of age or older to purchase a long gun in both private transactions and from licensed dealers, although the purchase of handguns under federal law continues to be subject to the 21-year-old restriction when made through federal licensed dealers.
