Senate Rules Chairwoman Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said Monday her committee won’t take up a House measure (HB 759) that would lower the minimum age to 18.
Passidomo said the decision against taking up the House bill was made before the shooting Thursday at Florida State University that killed two people and injured six others. The alleged gunman, the stepson of a Leon County Sheriff’s deputy, was also shot as police officers quickly responded to the scene.
After a 2018 mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 people, the Legislature and then-Gov. Rick Scott approved a number of changes, including increasing the minimum age for long-gun purchases to 21. Federal law has long set the minimum age at 21 for handgun purchases.
“I haven’t changed my position in how many years,” Passidomo, a former Senate president, said. “I’ve been clear from day one that I’m not going to replace Parkland. I was there.”
The Rules Committee plays a key role in determining which bills make it to the Senate floor. The legislative session is scheduled to end May 2.
The House on March 26 voted 78-34 to repeal the law that increased the minimum age for long-gun purchases to 21. If the Senate does not take up the bill, this would be the third year in a row that the House has approved such measures with the Senate not passing them.
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This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2025.