More Florida Republicans Call for Repeal of Under-21 Gun Sale Ban

Repealing Florida’s ban on gun sales for adults younger than 21 was a top priority for some Republicans in the state legislature this year, but though a bill sailed through the House with broad support, it met an ignominious end in the Senate.

Now several Republican officials are vowing to renew the push for repeal next session, including Evan Power, chair of the state GOP. 

“Look, if you can sign on the dotted line and be forced on a draft to go serve your country and fire guns, why are we not letting those people have those rights in our state?” Power said. “And I think constitutional rights are constitutional rights. They start at 18. If you want to have a conversation about moving the age, it should be about moving all of those rights.”

Backing him is newly sworn-in Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, a strong supporter of Second Amendment protections. “Well, I’ll tell you, you can’t go wrong with 2A rights,” Collins told us recently. “You know, I am an unequivocal supporter of that.”

Online, the new LT followed up with: “Without equivocation. This needs to be fixed,” he said on X. “Restricting law-abiding citizens of their right to bear arms is unconstitutional.”

Collins sponsored a Senate version of the repeal when he was in the upper chamber, but he and other supporters ran into a roadblock erected by Senate President Ben Albritton and former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee. The pair successfully blocked any consideration of the repeal bill last session, and unless one or both of them change their mind or bend to the pressure the same dynamic that stymied the bill this year is likely to come into play in 2026. 

Sen. President Ben Albritton has so far shown no interest in changing course.

“Twenty-one to 18? It’s dead,” Albritton said earlier this year.

The measure never received a hearing in the Senate.

There’s also an ongoing legal challenge to the ban, and how that plays out could have an impact on the legislative debate going forward. The NRA has filed a cert petition with the Supreme Court asking it to overturn the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding Florida’s law, and the state’s response is actually due before the Court on Wednesday. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeyer has previously said he doesn’t want to defend the law since he believes its unconstitutional, so the state’s reply brief should be an interesting read once it’s available. 

There are a couple of similar cases out of the Fourth Circuit that have reached SCOTUS as well, so its possible that the justices could grant cert to all cases and consolidate them this fall, with oral arguments taking place next spring and a decision handed down by the end of the Court’s term. If SCOTUS does grant cert, Republicans like Albritton and Passidomo could use that as an excuse to sit on any legislation repealing the law. If SCOTUS turns away the NRA case, though, then the only option to undo the ban would be through the legislature. 

Would that change Albritton’s calculus at all? It should, given the threat by some Second Amendment groups to primary Republican senators who are standing in the way of repeal. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also backs repeal, as does Republican gubernatorial candidate (and current congressman) Byron Donalds, who voted against the post-Parkland gun control package that included the under-21 sales ban when he served in the Florida House. 

With most GOP leaders behind a ban and Second Amendment advocates applying grassroots pressure to state Senators, Albritton’s going to have a major problem on his hands if he sits on the repeal bill next year. I hope he’ll see the light, but it’s up to gun owners and 2A defenders to make him feel the heat between now and the start of the 2026 session. 

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Democrats aren’t the only ones standing between us and our Second Amendment rights. 

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