The Florida House passed legislation on Friday to lower the legal firearm purchase age from 21 to 18 years.
The NRA-ILA reported that the bill, HB 1223, passed the House by a vote of 76-35.
It was legal to buy a long gun in Florida at age 18 until shortly after the February 14, 2018, Parkland high school shooting. The legislature raised the minimum purchase age to 21 following that attack.
The NRA filed suit against Florida’s increased legal purchase age, arguing that it violated the rights of 18-20 year-olds.
HB 1223 is designed to return the legal purchase age to 18.
FOX 13 noted that State Rep. Robin Bartleman (D) criticized the passage of HB 1223, saying, “Shame on us. We told the citizens of Florida that we were going to protect them.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at
