Florida Republican lawmakers are continuing to push for a repeal of a gun safety law passed in the state after the Parkland massacre in 2018, despite mass shootings still occurring in the United States.

Why It Matters

After 14 children and three staff members were fatally shot by 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz with a semi-automatic rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, the Florida state legislature passed a number of gun reform laws, including one which raised the minimum age for most gun owners to 21.

What To Know

On March 26, 2025, the Florida House voted to repeal the law preventing people under the age of 21 from buying rifles and shotguns. The bill is now sitting in the state’s Senate.

This push to lower the age barrier occurred prior to the shooting at Florida State University (FSU) on Thursday.

A student at FSU opened fire on campus with a gun that did not belong to him. The chief suspect in the shooting is 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner. Police say the gun used was his mother’s service gun, which she used in her role as a sheriff’s deputy.

Two people were killed and six more, including the shooter, have been hospitalized.

David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database, told Newsweek: “I think the FSU case is far more complicated than just gun laws.”

He cited the press conference following the event from Leon County Sheriff Walter A. McNeil which revealed that the suspect was a “long-standing member” of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office’s Youth Advisory Council, and that he had been “steeped in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office family,” which is why, per McNeil, “it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons.”

Even with age restriction bill in place, there have still been 36 episodes of gunfire on school grounds in Florida since 2018, according to data from Everytown for Gun Safety.

This is not the first time Florida House Republicans have pushed to repeal the age restriction. Efforts to remove the law failed in the state Senate in 2023 and 2024.

The law was also upheld by a 3-0 federal appeals court decision in 2023, following a legal challenge brought by the National Rifle Association (NRA). The court concluded that the law, which exists in 21 other states, is “consistent with our nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”

Age restrictions on gun purchases are a hot topic across the political divide in the U.S. A 2024 poll on gun control from Pew Research found that 69 percent of Republicans and 90 percent of Democrats believe the minimum age for buying guns should be 21.

GIFFORDS Florida State Director Samantha Barrios told Newsweek this effort from Republicans “will only make violence worse in the state.”

GIFFORDS is a gun violence prevention and advocacy organization founded by former Representative Gabby Giffords, an Arizona Democrat who was one of 18 people wounded during a 2011 Tuscon parking lot shooting that left six dead.

This age law was put in place alongside several other gun measures following one of America’s most deadly school shootings when Cruz gunned down his former Marjory Stoneman Douglas school classmates and teachers with a gun that he purchased from a Florida store and then modified to make it more deadly.

Gun rights advocate Luis Valdes of Gun Owners of America, told CBS News that he believes the age restriction law “wasn’t a very good idea.”

“And lawmakers have even admitted that they were emotionally high strung, and they made mistakes,” Valdes said.

Representative Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat and Marjory Stoneman alum who helped pass the initial law when working as a state representative following the Parkland shooting, told CBS News: “If they want to see emotion, go watch a parent eulogize their 14- year -old as they’re putting them in a wooden box.”

What People Are Saying

GIFFORDS Florida State Director Samantha Barrios told Newsweek: “By pushing to overturn the commonsense gun safety laws that were passed after the school shooting in Parkland, Governor DeSantis shows he cares more about the gun lobby than he does about Floridian lives. These were bipartisan bills that were aimed to make the state safer. The state took a step backwards when they passed permitless carry in 2023, and overturning their other gun safety laws will only make violence worse in the state. GIFFORDS Florida is committed to holding leaders accountable and making Florida a safer state.”

David Riedman of the K-12 School Shooting Database told Newsweek: “A 20-year-old white student who is deeply involved with the police department is exactly the ‘good guy with a gun’ that Florida politicians want carrying a gun on a school campus.”

Democratic National Committee (DNC) vice chair and Parkland survivor David Hogg wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday: “Three weeks ago, the Florida House voted to repeal gun safety measures won after the Parkland tragedy. Florida Republicans are actively trying to repeal the lifesaving measures passed after Parkland even as school shootings continue.”

Florida House Representative Michelle Salzman, a Florida Republican, said: “At 18 to 20 years old, you can be tried for crimes and sentenced to death. You can enter into contracts. You can sue. You can be sued. You can get married and you can own property. House Bill 759 seeks to rectify an inconsistency in our legal framework by ensuring all adult citizens in Florida are afforded their full Second Amendment rights.”

What Happens Next?

Currently there has been no action from the state Senate to pick up the bill. However, the NRA has started a campaign for them to act.

Update 4/18/25 12:48 p.m. ET: This story was updated to include comment from Barrios.