FLORIDA – A Florida House bill that would lower the minimum age to buy a firearm from 21 to 18 is moving forward again after clearing its first committee stop on Tuesday, setting the stage for another round of debate in a fight that has resurfaced for several years.
The proposal (HB 133), sponsored by Rep. Tyler Sirois (R-Brevard County), passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee after a discussion between lawmakers. The bill has cleared the House multiple times in recent years but has repeatedly stalled in the Senate.
Florida raised the gun-buying age to 21 in 2018 as part of a sweeping school safety bill following the Parkland shooting, which killed 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
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Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Broward County, urged the committee to keep that law in place, saying the debate continues to retraumatize families of the Parkland victims.
“For four years, this Legislature continues to open the wound for family members of the Parkland victims and those students,” Bartleman said. “Every year they make the journey to come up here… they send us letters and tell us please do not undo this bill.”
Supporters of lowering the age to 18 argue the current law is inconsistent, pointing out that 18- to 20-year-olds can legally own a long gun if it is given to them, but cannot purchase one themselves from a licensed dealer.
“Right now in Florida, a 19-year-old can legally own a long gun if someone gives it to them, but legally can’t buy one themselves, and this just doesn’t make any sense,” Rep. Webster Barnaby Baker said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has backed efforts to reduce the age, and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced earlier this year that his office would not defend the current age limit after a federal appeals court upheld the law.
The National Rifle Association has since asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. The Supreme Court did uphold that the current Florida Law is constitutional.
HB 133 now heads to the House Judiciary Committee. Even if it advances through the House again, its future remains uncertain in the Senate, where similar attempts have repeatedly failed.