TALLAHASSEE – A bill that would lower the minimum age from 21 to 18 to purchase rifles and shotguns was approved Tuesday by a House panel, but its future remains in doubt as the proposal has not been filed in the Senate.
The bill, approved by the Republican-controlled House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, would reverse an age requirement that was included in a school safety law passed after the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
The House approved a bill last year to lower the minimum age from 21 to 18, but the Senate did not take up the measure.
“I don’t make my decisions on what bills I want to run based on what the Senate is doing,” said GOP bill sponsor Bobby Payne. “I make those decisions based on what I feel is part of my fundamental belief, (and) part of my fundamental beliefs is on issues such as constitutional rights.”
Federal law prohibits people under 21 from purchasing handguns.