Earlier today we covered the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals' decision upholding Florida's ban on gun purchases for adults younger than 21 and the bizarre rationale deployed by a majority of the en banc panel in defense of the law, which included repeatedly labeling young adults as "minors". The next stop for the National Rifle Association's lawsuit against the Florida law is the U.S. Supreme Court, but before the justices even have a chance to debate taking the case there's a decent change the law will be repealed.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is among those voices urging for legislators to revisit the under-21 gun buy ban that was adopted in the wake of the Parkland murders in 2018. But while some lawmakers may have preferred sitting on their hands and letting the courts undo the gun law, the Eleventh Circuit decision puts pressure on them to act now.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, has said he supports the bill to lower the rifle-buying age to 18. Perez voted for the post-Parkland bill in 2018 that made the change, saying it was a “very emotional time” and that the Legislature was trying to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.
“And because of that, government has gotten involved with the Second Amendment,” Perez said earlier this month.
Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, has said he’s thinking through the proposal, but he has not yet indicated if he’s for it or against it.
Sounds like Sen. Abritton could stand to hear from gun owners and young adults who would like access to their Second Amendment rights without having to rely on a family member to gift them a firearm.
Some defenders of the law, including the Eleventh Circuit judges who upheld it, point to the fact that adults younger than 21 aren't barred from possessing a firearm as evidence that the law is compatible with the Constitution's protections on keeping and bearing arms.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said the idea behind restricting the purchase of long guns is to provide “speed bumps” for people who are 18, 19 or 20.
Gualtieri, chairperson of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, said people in that age range tend to be impulsive, and that the current laws stops people from buying a rifle on impulse.
“There’s nothing in there that prevents a 19-year-old from possessing a rifle or a shotgun,” Gualtieri said.
It's not that the law stops young adults from buying a long gun on impulse. It stops them from being able to legally purchase a long gun at all. Not that a waiting period would be any more constitutionally sound than the complete prohibition on gun sales to under-21s, but if the Florida legislature's intent was to stop impulsive purchases by 18, 19, or 20-year-olds that would at least have been a more narrow approach. As things stand, the state does have a three-day waiting period for adults over the age of 21 who don't have a valid concealed carry license; another provision that lawmakers are looking to at least water down this session by providing more exemptions for law enforcement and members of the military.
With the Eleventh Circuit's decision keeping Florida's under-21 gun purchase ban in place, DeSantis and other backers of repeal have a little more leverage for those lawmakers still on the fence. The courts won't save the day, at least not anytime soon, so it's up to the legislature to give young adults the relief they deserve by regaining their Second Amendment rights. And even if the legislature moots this particular challenge by repealing the law, there are already plenty of other cases percolating around the country, including the Worth case dealing with concealed carry bans for under-21s that should be considered by the Supreme Court in conference in a month or two. The Florida law isn't necessary for SCOTUS to address these under-21 gun bans, which is all the more reason for lawmakers in Tallahassee to make it disappear.
