The Florida legislature is considering a bill that would repeal a 2018 gun law raising the purchasing age for rifles and shotguns to 21, meaning the law would revert back to age 18 for those purchases.

Then-Governor Rick Scott (R) signed the bill into law after the 2018 shooting at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 people.

The House Judiciary Committee already passed the repeal bill 16-6; the House passed similar bills in 2023 and 2024 that were not voted on by the Senate.

Republican Senate President Ben Albritton told reporters he didn't yet know his position on the issue.

"Thinking this through"

He said he tearfully walked the halls of Marjory Stoneman Douglas after the shooting, but he is also a Second Amendment supporter and longtime member of the National Rifle Association (NRA).

"I don't have an answer for that right now," Albritton said. "Like I do everything. I am thinking this through."

House bill sponsor Michelle Salzman said she supports the law because members of her community from ages 18 to 20 want to have guns for safety.

"We have people in Pensacola who are living at home with young children, 18-, 19-year-old single moms, who have not had the opportunity to have that," Salzman said. "And they have expressed to me that they would like to be able to purchase a firearm for the protection of their home."

It is already federal law that handgun purchasers must be 21 years or older.

Typical reaction

On the other side, Broward County School Board Chairwoman Debra Hixon, who lost her husband Chris in the Parkland shooting, said repealing the law means lawmakers "have forgotten who my husband and the other 16 victims were."

"I believe my job as a public servant is to make sure that my students are safe and that they get home every day," Hixon said. "I do believe that's also your job as legislators for our state."

It's a typical position for those advocating for more gun control.

While the Parkland shooting was a tragedy, making laws that infringe on constitutional gun rights will not prevent these types of shootings from happening.

Democrats have long been tricked into believing mass shooters actually follow laws, when it makes much more sense that if someone is determined to break a law like murder, they would not have too much respect for gun laws.