GIFFORDS blasts Florida’s backwards bill to lower gun buying age

WASHINGTON — GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention organization led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, issued the following statement after the Florida House passed HB 759, which lowers the firearm purchasing age back to 18. The minimum age was raised to 21 by Florida’s Republican-led legislature in 2018. Florida lawmakers passed this and other lifesaving legislation following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where a gunman killed 17 people and wounded 17 others.

“It’s extremely dangerous for lawmakers in the Florida House to reverse course on meaningful gun safety progress since Parkland and advance legislation to lower the gun-buying age,” said GIFFORDS Executive Director, Emma Brown. “As guns continue to be the number one cause of death for kids and teens in the U.S., legislators chose to prioritize the profits of the gun industry over the safety of Florida kids. This is a betrayal of the families and survivors who have fought tirelessly in honor of those who died. The Florida Senate must once again reject this dangerous rollback as they have done repeatedly in recent years.”

“As a responsible gun owner, I respect the Second Amendment. However, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre is a stark reminder of the urgent need for legislative change regarding firearms,” said Katherine “Kitty” Donovan, a Florida State Senior Ambassador for GIFFORDS Gun Owners for Safety. “HB 759 would not lead to the changes that are urgently needed. Reducing the minimum age at which a person may purchase or transfer a firearm will increase gun deaths and injuries. Young people are disproportionately at risk of committing impulsive acts of violence towards others and themselves. HB 759 will put our communities at a higher risk.”

“Data shows that people who are 18–20 are more likely to commit gun homicides than those 21 years and older. This bill will not make our communities any safer,” said Debbi Hixon, whose husband tragically lost his life in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. “To me, this feels like salt being poured onto an open wound. Families and community members very early into grief and shock came to Tallahassee and asked leaders to do something in the wake of the massacre. Lawmakers responded as a bipartisan body that believed in the things that made our communities safer. Now it makes me feel as though leaders have forgotten my husband and the other 16 victims that were killed. That is not right, and it will not make our communities safer.”