Florida: the bill that would lower the minimum age to buy weapons

A Republican representative from Florida sent a bill to modify the minimum age at which you can buy weapons within the state. Should this proposal move forward, the threshold to acquire a weapon would go from twenty-one to eighteen years. The current requirement corresponds to a law that was passed just under six years ago after a school shooting.

Accessibility to weapons is an issue that has always generated controversy in the US. With different arguments, Democrats and Republicans debate and seek to create or remove obstacles to purchasing them, depending on their position. The positions are exacerbated within the framework of a growing number of shootings that have been recorded recently throughout the country. In this context, a legislator seeks to promote a project that will undoubtedly generate an impact.

A bill seeks to lower the minimum age to buy a gun in Florida

The text was presented by Republican Representative Bobby Payne. Specifically, Bill 1223 was presented last Thursday and establishes that the minimum age to legally purchase a gun in Florida be reduced by three yearsfrom the current twenty-one to eighteen, as stated WFLA. In statements to American media, Payne considered that people of that age are adults and, therefore, have the right to buy a weapon.

If approved, this law would annul part of what was approved in 2018. At that time, under the management of then-governor Rick Scott, the minimum age allowed to acquire a weapon was increased. The measure was promoted after the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, located in Miami, which occurred on February 14 of that year and ended with seventeen deaths.

Before this change, in Florida it was allowed to purchase long guns at the age of eighteen and handguns at the age of 2021. Also as background, An attempt was made last year to pass similar legislation.. In March 2023, Bill 1543 was presented which, among other things, also sought to lower the minimum age.