After a crazed murderer opened fire at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine’s Day 2018, lawmakers immediately went to work passing more restrictive gun-control laws.
The attacker killed 17 and wounded 17 others, making it the deadliest mass shooting at a high school in U.S. history. Even some Republicans felt so much heat from constituents that they supported several proposals, and Republican Gov. Rick Scott quickly signed them into law.
One new law was a ban that forbids lawful 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old citizens from purchasing long guns—both rifles and shotguns—in the Sunshine State. Ever since, pro-gun lawmakers have been pushing to repeal the law, but with no avail. Now, their latest effort, which easily passed the state House of Representatives, is on the verge of being derailed in the state Senate.
House Bill 133, sponsored by Rep. Tyler Sirois, restores the ability for young adults to acquire firearms by lowering the minimum age requirement to purchase from 21 to 18. Since 2018, Florida has completely banned 18-to-20-year-olds from purchasing a firearm of any kind, for any purpose. A young adult in violation faces stiff penalties, including up to five years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.
The House passed the legislation last month, marking the fourth straight year it has passed nearly identical measures recognizing the Second Amendment rights of young adults. However, a Senate committee chairman is currently blocking further consideration of the bill.
The organization Florida Carry is calling on its members and other Second Amendment supporters to pressure Senate Rules Committee Chair Kathleen Passidomo and Senate President Ben Albritton to allow a vote on the measure.
“Senator Kathleen Passidomo, chairperson of the Florida Senate Rules Committee, is blocking House Bill 133 from getting a hearing,” the organization said in an email to members, noting the bill was referred to Passidomo’s committee on January 16, 2026, just one day after the House overwhelmingly approved it by a commanding 74-to-37 margin.
“It has been stonewalled ever since,” the email continued. “Senator Passidomo is obviously unconcerned that 18 to 20-year-olds should enjoy the same fundamental enumerated right, guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution, that all other adults enjoy.”
The group Florida Gun Rights is also speaking out against the bill’s stalling.
“Senate Leadership is refusing to touch the Military Aged Purchase ban repeal,” the group said in a post on X. “This is completely unacceptable. This has passed the House four years now. The 2nd Amendment is being treated as a second-class right here in Florida.”
Incidentally, even Florida’s attorney general doesn’t agree with the law and has said he won’t enforce it. Recently, AG James Uthmeier intervened in a criminal case, asking a state appeals court to uphold an 18- to 20-year-old defendant’s right to carry.
Additionally, court cases involving the rights of 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds are being litigated not only in Florida, but throughout the country. Last summer, the National Rifle Association filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in NRA v. Glass, requesting that the U.S. Supreme Court hear its challenge to Florida’s law prohibiting adults under 21 from purchasing firearms.
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