The Florida House of Representatives has again passed a bill that would lower the age for for buying long guns. In 2018, a shooter at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killed 17 students and faculty members, prompting the Legislature to raise the purchase age to buy rifles and shotguns to 21. But the state Senate has not heard the bill this year.
The shadow of Parkland still hangs over Florida.
On Tuesday, Moms Demand Action members fanned out across the capital to ask lawmakers not to pass the age change. The group’s executive director, Angela Ferrell-Zabala, says she remembers how, after Parkland, then-Gov. Rick Scott and a bipartisan group of legislators worked to prevent what she calls, quote, “another senseless tragedy.”
“To actually roll that back right now is just a slap in the face to survivors and advocates that worked so hard for this change to ensure public safety,” she said.
The House easily passed the bill dropping the age of purchase to 18. The vote was 78-34 with Republicans largely in support. Many of the arguments for lowering the age of purchase center around the Second Amendment — which enshrines the right to own weapons in the U.S. Constitution. However, Ferrell-Zabala disagrees with that stance.
“One thing that I often hear that is very frustrating is pitting this against the Second Amendment. That is absolutely ridiculous," she said. "We have many gun owners amongst us that advocate right alongside us and even gun owners that are survivors of gun violence themselves. Responsible gun ownership is something that we should be really making sure that we have in this state and across the country. Not anything that’s going to be reckless or endanger public safety.”
“We were very close," said Aleta Jarrett of her late brother. "He would be here with me, by my side, enjoying the birth of my very first grandchild -- he loved my daughter more than anything, and played with her as a baby. It’s just so sad to me when I come to these events.”
Aleta Jarrett’s father and brother were shot to death in Coral Gables in 2003. Her father, Paul, was known in Miami for starting the department of psychiatry at Mercy Hospital. Her brother Gregg was a nurse.
Jarrett says she’s had difficulty coming to terms with her loss.
“I did. I suppressed it for a long time," she said. "But joining other groups with survivors, and we all have a different story -- but we all have a common thread of why we’re there. Like they say, helping others helps yourself.”
The age change may have passed the House, but it hasn’t budged in the Senate, where Senate President Ben Albritton is still grappling with his response. Earlier this month, Albritton told reporters that he and his wife, Missy, had gone to Parkland and had stood where the slaughter took place.
“Missy and I had the opportunity to go down to Parkland [long pause] and I walked the halls. Right? And what I will…[stops] I’m sorry. What I will tell you: You can’t do that and be the same when you leave.”
Albritton said one of the students who died, 15-year-old Luke Hoyer, made him think of his own children. He apologized for being emotional about the issue.
“It’s not easy. I’m an NRA lifetime member. [sniff] Nearly every day I carry at least one weapon. [sniff] I have a concealed carry permit. The Legislature passed concealed [sniff] carry, permit-less concealed carry, constitutional carry. That shows that this Legislature takes the Second Amendment seriously.”
This month, the NRA lost a challenge to Florida’s age law. A circuit court upheld the constitutionality of raising the minimum age to purchase long guns from 18 to 21. The ruling is likely to go to the U.S. Supreme Court. State Attorney General James Uthmeier has said he won’t continue to defend it.
