MIAMI — A proposal to repeal a law that prevents people under age 21 from buying rifles and shotguns in Florida is positioned to go to the full state House, but the issue remains on hold in the Senate.

The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted 16-6 to approve House Bill 759, which would lower the minimum age to purchase rifles and other long guns from 21 to 18. Rep. Hillary Cassel, R-Dania Beach, joined Democrats in opposing the bill.

The Legislature and then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott increased the minimum age for gun purchases to 21 after the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 people.

The House approved repeal bills in 2023 and 2024, but the measures did not get through the Senate. With the Legislature ending its third week of this year’s regular session, another that would roll back the age limit, Senate Bill 920, has not been heard in committees.

Asked about the issue Wednesday, Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, tearfully recalled walking the halls of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and seeing damage from the mass shooting. But he also said he takes Second Amendment rights seriously and is a lifetime National Rifle Association member.

House bill sponsor Michelle Salzman, R-Pensacola, pointed Thursday to people in her community who are under 21 and want to have guns for safety.

“We have people in Pensacola who are living at home with young children, 18-, 19-year-old single moms, who have not had the opportunity to have that,” Salzman said. “And they have expressed to me that they would like to be able to purchase a firearm for the protection of their home.”

Broward County School Board Chairwoman Debra Hixon, whose husband, Chris Hixon, was killed in the Parkland shooting, told the House committee that a repeal of the law would indicate lawmakers “have forgotten who my husband and the other 16 victims were.”

“I believe my job as a public servant is to make sure that my students are safe and that they get home every day,” Hixon said. “I do believe that’s also your job as legislators for our state.”

But Luis Valdes of Gun Owners of America said rolling back the age law would admit a mistake when the Legislature “violated” the Second Amendment in 2018.

Thursday’s vote came less than a week after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 8-4 against an NRA challenge to the 2018 law. The panel majority said, in part, the law maintains access because people under 21 can still receive rifles and long guns as gifts from family members.

But the issue is likely to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.