Will Florida Senate Stall Post-Parkland Gun Reforms?

Over the past few legislative sessions then-Senate President Kathleen Passidomo served as the major roadblock to pro-2A legislation in the state, including blocking bills that would have allowed open carry and lowered the age to purchase a long gun from 21 to 18; a measure the legislature put in place after the Parkland shootings in 2018. 

Though Passidomo is no longer the Senate president, her replacement may prove to be no better when it comes to repealing those post-Parkland gun laws. The Florida House is on track to approve legislation allowing adults younger than 21 to once again purchase rifles and shotguns, but as the Miami Herald reports, Senate President Ben Albritton is still playing his cards close to the vest. 

“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, R-Pensacola, pointed Thursday to people in her community who are under 21 and 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.”

… But the issue is likely to go to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who took office in February, said he would not defend the law. “Notwithstanding CA11’s opinion today, I believe restricting the right of law-abiding adults to purchase firearms is unconstitutional,” Uthmeier posted Friday on X, referring to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

… Albritton said he’s working with attorneys and Senate staff members to understand the potential “ramifications” of Uthmeier’s announcement that he would not defend the law. “I’ve got a respect for every branch of government and have not made any decisions about that at this point,” Albritton said.

If the under-21 gun sale ban does get repealed by the legislature it would most likely moot the NRA’s lawsuit challenging Florida’s law, but there are other vehicles for the Supreme Court to weigh on gun bans for young adults, including the Worth case dealing with concealed carry license prohibitions for adults under 21 that’s also been fully decided on the merits and is poised for review by SCOTUS. 

The murders at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were a horrific tragedy, but they are not cause to block every young adult under the age of 21 from accessing their Second Amendment rights, any more than a murder committed by a 45-year-old would be reason to deprive adults under the age of 50 from purchasing a firearm at retail. The criminal actions of a few cannot and should not dictate restrictions on the rights for the many, which is exactly what Florida’s age-based gun ban does. As Rep. Salzman says, there are moms under the age of 21 who are living at home with their kids who already restricted from purchasing a handgun at retail thanks to federal law, but Florida’s ban on the sale of all firearms to under-21s means that they can’t protect their loved ones with a rifle or shotgun either… unless they know someone willing to gift them a gun instead. 

The Supreme Court should undo these restrictions nationwide, but there’s no reason for the Florida legislature to hang back until SCOTUS takes action. The right thing to do is to repeal these prohibitions now, and Sen. Albritton needs to not only hear from attorneys and staff members, but from Florida gun owners… and especially those young adults who’s Second Amendment rights are currently curtailed.