{"id":690,"date":"2025-10-13T22:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T22:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/690\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T22:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T22:48:09","slug":"florida-house-rep-proposes-reduced-gun-age-law-for-fourth-straight-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/690\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida House Rep proposes reduced gun age law for fourth straight year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ANov. 07, 2021 \u2013 Miami: Florida Gun Shows Credit: YES Market Media \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

A Florida House Republican has again filed legislation that would reduce the minimum to buy a firearm in the state from 21 to 18 years of age.<\/p>\n

The proposal (HB 133<\/a>), sponsored by Rep. Tyler Sirois, a Brevard County Republican, has passed in the Florida House\u00a0during the past three legislative sessions<\/a>, but failed to advance in the Florida Senate. The existing law exempts law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or service members younger than 21.<\/p>\n

The Florida Legislature and then-Gov. Rick Scott raised the age for purchasing a firearm in 2018 as part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public High School Safety Act, just weeks after the school shootings in Parkland that killed 17 people.<\/p>\n

The effort to restore the legal age for purchasing a firearm to 18 has been supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis and gained momentum this spring when Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that he would not defend the law after a federal appeals court again\u00a0upheld<\/a>\u00a0its constitutionality after it was challenged in federal court by the NRA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the NRA decides to seek further review at SCOTUS, I am directing my office not to defend this law,\u201d Uthmeier\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0in March, not long after DeSantis appointed him to his office. \u201cMen and women old enough to fight and die for our country should be able to purchase firearms to defend themselves and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NRA has subsequently\u00a0asked the U.S. Supreme Court<\/a>\u00a0to hear its challenge to Florida\u2019s law.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, another federal appeals court \u2014 the Fifth Circuit \u2014 ruled in January that the federal law banning federal firearms licensees from selling handguns to individuals aged 18 to 20 is\u00a0unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.<\/a><\/p>\n

Rejected in Florida Senate<\/p>\n

Again, the state Senate has consistently thwarted repeal \u2014 in 2023 and 2024 by then-President Kathleen Passidomo and earlier this year by sitting Senate President Ben Albritton.<\/p>\n

Second Amendment groups have been critical of those efforts, and they are speaking out now with concerns about what Albritton might do when it comes to an implementing bill that would make the open carrying of firearms legal in Florida statute.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s First District Court of Appeals ruled last month that the 1987 law banning open carry in Florida was\u00a0unconstitutional<\/a>, and Uthmeier declared five days later that, in light of that ruling, he was declaring that\u00a0open carry is now the law of the state.<\/a><\/p>\n

However, speaking during a press conference at the Palm Beach County Sheriff\u2019s Office two weeks later, Uthmeier acknowledged that changing the law based on the court\u2019s ruling was \u201cnot the cleanest situation and there\u2019s likely cleanup that\u2019s going to be needed by the Legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Tallahassee this week, Albritton told reporters \u201cthere are some questions\u201d about the new policy, and that he was seeking advice from Florida sheriffs, whose political organization, the Florida Sheriffs Association, historically had\u00a0opposed open carry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Questions\u2019 about open carry<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some questions about the Capitol, specifically, about how well guns play in or would not play in, so the attorney general has given some guidance on this, so we\u2019re contemplating all of that, and wanting to do what\u2019s right for all Floridians. So, we\u2019ll just continue to think it through. We\u2019re again seeking input from various folks who have the expertise to help us understand and we\u2019ll see how it goes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Luis Valdes, Florida state director for Gun Owners of America (GOA), told the Phoenix that the right to open carry has come from the judicial system, \u201cnot the Republican supermajority in the Legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGOA will fight tooth and nail to see this repeal passed,\u201d Valdes said Friday, referring to the proposed legislation that would return the legal age to purchase a firearm in Florida to 18. \u201cBut with the same leadership still in place, the battle against the RINOs in Tallahassee continues. We will continue with our simple message of NO COMPROMISE. We will fight to make sure all Floridians, 18 and up, can freely exercise their Second Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue of open carry in Florida made headlines this week when Publix, the largest supermarket chain in the state, declared that the company would comply with state law.<\/p>\n

\u201cTreating customers with dignity and respect is a founding belief at Publix,\u201d\u00a0it said<\/a>. \u201cIn any instance where a customer creates a threatening, erratic or dangerous shopping experience, whether they are openly carrying a firearm or not, we will engage local law enforcement to protect our customers and associates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new law also came into play on Thursday night in Tampa, when a former candidate for Tampa city council allegedly\u00a0brandished a gun<\/a>\u00a0after getting into an argument with another person following a candidate forum for an election taking place later this month. No charges were filed in that incident.<\/p>\n

With additional reporting from Liv Caputo.<\/p>\n

Florida Phoenix<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n

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