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.
The proposal (HB 133), sponsored by Rep. Tyler Sirois, a Brevard County Republican, has passed in the Florida House during the past three legislative sessions, but failed to advance in the Florida Senate. The existing law exempts law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or service members younger than 21.
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.
READ MORE: Republicans in Florida's capitol restart push to lower the gun-buying age
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 upheld its constitutionality after it was challenged in federal court by the NRA.
“If the NRA decides to seek further review at SCOTUS, I am directing my office not to defend this law,” Uthmeier said in March, not long after DeSantis appointed him to his office. “Men and women old enough to fight and die for our country should be able to purchase firearms to defend themselves and their families.”
The NRA has subsequently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its challenge to Florida’s law.
Meanwhile, another federal appeals court — the Fifth Circuit — ruled in January that the federal law banning federal firearms licensees from selling handguns to individuals aged 18 to 20 is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.
Rejected in Florida SenateAgain, the state Senate has consistently thwarted repeal — in 2023 and 2024 by then-President Kathleen Passidomo and earlier this year by sitting Senate President Ben Albritton.
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.
The state’s First District Court of Appeals ruled last month that the 1987 law banning open carry in Florida was unconstitutional, and Uthmeier declared five days later that, in light of that ruling, he was declaring that open carry is now the law of the state.
However, speaking during a press conference at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office two weeks later, Uthmeier acknowledged that changing the law based on the court’s ruling was “not the cleanest situation and there’s likely cleanup that’s going to be needed by the Legislature.”
In Tallahassee this week, Albritton told reporters “there are some questions” about the new policy, and that he was seeking advice from Florida sheriffs, whose political organization, the Florida Sheriffs Association, historically had opposed open carry.
‘Questions’ about open carry“There 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’re contemplating all of that, and wanting to do what’s right for all Floridians. So, we’ll just continue to think it through. We’re again seeking input from various folks who have the expertise to help us understand and we’ll see how it goes,” he said.
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, “not the Republican supermajority in the Legislature.”
“GOA will fight tooth and nail to see this repeal passed,” Valdes said Friday, referring to the proposed legislation that would return the legal age to purchase a firearm in Florida to 18. “But 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.”
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.
“Treating customers with dignity and respect is a founding belief at Publix,” it said. “In 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.”
The new law also came into play on Thursday night in Tampa, when a former candidate for Tampa city council allegedly brandished a gun after 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.
With additional reporting from Liv Caputo.
Florida Phoenix 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.”
