House aims again to change gun law

The Florida House is once again advancing a controversial proposal to lower the minimum age to purchase rifles and other long guns from 21 to 18, even as the Senate has shown no public indication it will support the change.

On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled House Criminal Justice Subcommittee voted 11–5 along party lines to approve the bill (HB 133). It now heads to the House Judiciary Committee, its final stop before reaching the full House during the 2026 legislative session.

The bill would undo part of a sweeping 2018 school-safety package passed after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The shooter, then 19, used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 17 people, prompting lawmakers and then-Gov. Rick Scott to increase the minimum long-gun purchase age to 21.

The House has passed similar bills in 2023, 2024, and 2025, but the Senate repeatedly declined to take them up. No Senate companion has been filed for the 2026 session, which begins Jan. 13.

Bill sponsor House Majority Leader Tyler Sirois, R-Merritt Island, said there is “still time for that conversation” with senators, noting that bills may be filed until session convenes. He declined further comment after the meeting.

Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, has not stated his position. However, the proposal would likely have to pass through the Senate Rules Committee, chaired by Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples — who has said she has no intention of revisiting the 2018 law.

The National Rifle Association has challenged the age requirement, losing in federal district and appellate courts. The case is now awaiting review at the U.S. Supreme Court.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston, said the bill retraumatizes Parkland survivors each year it returns.

“Every year, that wound is healing and you rip it off,” said Bartleman, who served on the Broward County School Board during the shooting. “We went to the funerals. We dealt with the aftermath. And it just causes so much pain for these families.”

Rep. Mike Gottlieb, D-Davie, argued that asking 18–20-year-olds to wait three years to buy a long gun “is not a huge constitutional violation” and said teens are more prone to impulsive decisions.

But supporters said the law unfairly creates unequal access to firearms. Rep. Jessica Baker, R-Jacksonville, criticized a system in which a person under 21 cannot buy a long gun but can legally receive one as a gift.

“If we believe in equality, how is it that a young adult from a well-off family can get a long gun as a gift… but a young adult with no family support cannot?” Baker asked.

Gun-rights groups strongly backed the bill. Luis Valdes, Florida state director for Gun Owners of America, called the age requirement “ludicrously hypocritical.”

“It is horrible that we have a Republican supermajority that campaigns on being pro-gun, but some of our Republican lawmakers actually vote against this bill,” Valdes said.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who took office in February, has declined to defend the current law in the Supreme Court. Eric Friday, general counsel for Florida Carry, praised that decision, saying Uthmeier “can read a case decision.”