The Florida House Judiciary Committee voted 13 to 7 on December 2, 2025, to advance legislation that would restore the right of young adults to purchase rifles and shotguns. This marked the fourth consecutive year Republicans have attempted to correct what gun rights advocates view as a constitutional infringement committed in the panic following the Parkland shooting.
House Bill 133, sponsored by House Majority Leader Tyler Sirois, would lower the minimum age for purchasing long guns from 21 back to 18 years old. The measure now heads to the full House for consideration when the 2026 legislative session begins on January 13, having cleared its final committee hurdle.
The bill directly challenges a key provision of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, the sweeping gun control package Florida Republicans passed in 2018 after a 19-year-old gunman killed 17 people at the Parkland high school. That legislation raised the minimum firearm purchase age to 21 and created red flag laws empowering authorities to confiscate guns from individuals deemed dangerous. Violations of the age restriction carry penalties of up to five years imprisonment and $5,000 in fines.
For gun rights organizations like Florida Gun Rights, this legislation represents an opportunity to roll back what they characterize as a betrayal of constitutional principles during a moment of political weakness.
“This removes the military age purchase ban of long guns that came from the egregious Parkland bill in 2018,” Florida Gun Rights wrote following the committee vote. “While this is a victory, the Senate has refused to take it up for years. The Senate in Tallahassee is treating the 2nd Amendment as a 2nd class right.”
House Judiciary Committee voted 13-7 in favor HB 133.
This removes the military age purchase ban of long guns that came from the egregious Parkland bill in 2018.
While this is a victory, the Senate has refused to take it up for years. The Senate in Tallahassee is treating the…
— Florida Gun Rights (@FLGunRights) December 2, 2025
The current law creates what supporters of HB 133 view as an obvious constitutional inequity. Adults aged 18 to 20 can vote, serve in the military, sign contracts, and legally possess firearms if gifted to them. They simply cannot purchase those same firearms themselves.
State Rep. Jessica Baker highlighted this contradiction during committee deliberations. “Right now, in Florida, a 19 year old can legally own a long gun if someone gives it to them, but they can’t buy one themselves,” she noted.
HB 133 would restore purchasing rights for rifles and shotguns to adults in this age group, though federal law would still require buyers to be 21 to purchase handguns from licensed dealers. The bill would also allow 18 year olds to purchase pistols from private sellers, since current state law prohibits any firearm purchase for those under 21.
This marks the fourth consecutive year the Florida House has advanced such legislation. The chamber passed similar measures in 2023, 2024, and during the 2025 session. Each time, the Senate has refused to take up the bills.
The committee vote broke almost entirely along party lines, with Rep. Hillary Cassel, whose district is near the Parkland community, being the only Republican to vote against the measure.
The Senate remains the primary obstacle to restoring these rights. Senate President Ben Albritton has not publicly stated his position on the issue, but the bill must pass through the Rules Committee, where Chairwoman Kathleen Passidomo has stated she will not repeal the 2018 legislation. No companion Senate bill has been filed for the 2026 session.
The persistence of House Republicans in advancing this legislation reflects a recognition that the 2018 response to Parkland represented a departure from core principles. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act passed during a period of intense political pressure, when Republicans abandoned their traditional defense of Second Amendment rights in favor of restrictions that punish law-abiding young adults for the actions of a criminal.
The constitutional case for HB 133 rests on a straightforward principle. The Second Amendment does not contain an age restriction beyond the general legal definition of adulthood. If 18-year-olds are adults for purposes of voting, military service, and criminal prosecution, they are adults for purposes of exercising their right to keep and bear arms.
The Senate’s continued refusal to even vote on this legislation suggests that some Florida Republicans remain more concerned with avoiding controversy than with defending constitutional rights. This reluctance to correct a mistake made during a moment of panic reveals a concerning willingness to treat the Second Amendment as somehow subordinate to other constitutional protections.
For young adults currently denied their rights, the situation creates real practical problems. An 18-year-old living alone cannot purchase a shotgun for home defense. A 19-year-old cannot buy a rifle for hunting. A 20-year-old military service member home on leave cannot purchase the same firearms they may be trained to use in service to their country.
The House has done its job. The question now is whether the Senate will find the resolve to join them in correcting the constitutional error of 2018, or whether political calculation will continue to override principle for another year.
About José Niño
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can contact him via Facebook and X/Twitter. Subscribe to his Substack newsletter by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.
Why not repeal the whole thing? Why are they OK with the other infringments?