Father of Parkland victim urges Florida lawmakers to reject bill lowering age to purchase firearms

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A push to reverse one of the key portions of the school safety law passed in the wake of the Parkland shooting is moving in the Florida House.

The bill would lower the age to purchase a long gun from 21 back down to 18, but a father who lost his daughter in the Valentine’s Day shooting is pleading with lawmakers to reconsider.

Two weeks from today will mark the sixth anniversary of the Parkland shooting, which claimed the lives of 17 at Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School in 2018.

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Later that same year, school safety legislation passed in honor of the victims passed with bipartisan support and was signed into law.

“Each of these safety laws that Florida has passed as a state is written in the blood of the Parkland victims,” said Tony Montalto with Stand With Parkland.

One of those victims was Montalto’s 14-year-old daughter, Gina.

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For a second year in a row, Montalto has traveled to Tallahassee to fight efforts to reverse one of the key pieces of that initial school safety bill, which raised the age to purchase long guns from 18 to 21.

Last year, the legislation was passed off the floor, but died in the Senate.

Montalto testified in the bill’s first hearing in the House this week.

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“I am here today because an 18-year-old purchased a weapon and later terrorized my local high school killing 17 and wounding 17 others,” Montalto told the committee.

Florida is an outlier among not just Republican-led states, but all states on this issue.

It’s just one of seven that prohibits 18 to 20-year-olds from purchasing long guns like shotguns and rifles.

The bill sponsor, State Representative Bobby Payne (R-Palatka) voted for the school safety bill in 2018.

But during his close in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, Payne argued other safety measures in that 2018 bill and in others passed since, make Florida’s schools some of the safest in the nation.

“The real belief is that restoring the rights of young adults to purchase a long gun, for not only self defense, but spotting, is very important in my rural area,” said Payne.

While Payne argued the limitation is violative of 18 to 20-year-olds’ constitutional rights, Florida’s age restriction has held up to court challenges in recent years.

And with no companion bill filed in the Senate, Montalto is optimistic the bill will be defeated for a second year in a row.

“You have no further to look than the State of Texas, which did not attack that basket of laws in the way that we did, which didn’t look at this in a comprehensive way. They’ve had two school shootings since the Parkland tragedy. Here in Florida, we’ve had none,” said Montalto.

Representative Payne acknowledged the bill likely has a difficult road ahead due to the lack of a Senate sponsor, but told Action News Jax he files bills he believes in, regardless of what the Senate may be doing.

Payne’s bill has one more stop before reaching the House floor.

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