The Republicans in Florida start the lower age of weapons on 18-NBC 6 Südflorida

Proponents of the gun rights have struggled to overthrow a law in Florida since the day the measure was signed in 2018

With a new leadership in Florida's republican -controlled Capitol, conservative legislators seem to have their best chances in years of convincing colleagues to reset the law. A legislative template to reduce the weapon purchase age of the state to 18 would ensure that “all adult citizens in Florida will receive their full rights of the second change,” said Rep. Michelle Salzman on Wednesday, when the measure that she sponsored, said his first committee in the house.

Here is what you should know about the invoice:

Why did the gun laws change after parking land?

The law was killed after an exceptional lobbying of survivors and family members of the 17 people who were killed in the parking shots, which was carried out by a former student who was 19 years old and was legally able to buy weapons after the laws of the state.

In the days after the massacre on February 14, survivors and family members of victims came to the land capitol to request measures from the legislators who were in the middle of their regular session. Some legislative leaders traveled to the crime scene and saw the slaughter in the classrooms with their own eyes.

Weeks after the shootout in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, then. Rick Scott signed a package of weapon security measures surrounded by Parkland families, including the determination that increased the age of 18 to 21 years.

The National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit within a few hours to question the law. This dispute is still playing before a federal court.

Will Florida change its gun laws?

Florida has long been on the border of the expansion of weapons rights. But supporters of arms control – and some important Republicans – have rejected the restrictions.

The measure has the support of Daniel Perez and Governor Ron Desantis from Florida House. If 18-year-olds are ripe enough to risk their life in the military in overseas, they should have the right to buy weapons.

“You come home and can't even buy a rifle to hunt,” Desantis told reporters. “Are you an adult or not?”

The measure was historically more resistance in the Senate. The new president of the chamber, the Republican Ben Albritton, has geared towards the rollback from other weapon restrictions with law enforcement officers, but said that he is considering reducing the age of the weapon circuit.

“I think that through,” said Albritton at the beginning of this month about the proposal. “Certainly the most important thing I don't want to do is make a mistake.”

Who is against the lowering of the weapon purchase?

The Parkland shooting left a sustainable influence on schools across the state and interest rates a new generation of activists and elected Florida officials.

“Did we forget the pain of Parkland?” Asked Fiona Shannon, a volunteer in the league of the Women Voters Seminole County, who testified against the bill on Wednesday.

Democratic MP Robin Bartleman, who was a school board in the county at the time of the shootout, in which Parkland was native to the families who fought for the law “a slap in the face”.

“We owe these families not to go backwards,” said Bartleman. “We can't. It's wrong. “

In the past two years, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, a Republican, made it clear that lowering the age of buying weapons was a “non -starter” in her chamber. While a law was passed in the last two meetings in the full house, no accompanying bills were submitted to the Senate.

What do the legislators propose now in Florida?

Legislators in the House of Representatives and the Senate submitted invoices that reduced the minimum age to buy a weapon to 18.

If the measure goes by, Floridians from the age of 18 could buy a long weapon such as a rifle or a shotgun from a seller licensed nationwide or in a private sale. According to the federal law, those under the age of 21 would still be excluded from buying a pistol from a licensed dealer.

In January, a US Court of Appeal decided against the federal law that young adults had to be 21 to buy handguns and found that it violated the second change.

___ Kate Payne is a member of the Corps for the “Associated Press/Report” initiative for America Statehouse News. The report for America is a non -profit National Service program that reports journalists in local news editorial offices on hidden topics.