Saturday, Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) discussed the bill Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed Friday to raise the purchase of long firearms from the age of 18 to 21, calling it “merely the beginning” of the response to last month’s Parkland, FL, shooting.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) sued the state of Florida over the provision, saying it violates the Second Amendment.
“This provision that requires someone to be 21 to buy a gun would have prevented the 19-year-old shooter, who bought an AR-15 and used it to kill 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas — that’s what the provision would have prevented,” Deutch said on MSNBC. “The NRA has gone to court to overturn that provision. That, I think, says as much as you need to know about their approach to this issue and the fact that their focus today and always is on the profits of the gun industry ahead of the public safety of our kids, our teachers and our communities.”
He continued, “This legislation in Florida that the governor just signed is a good first step. But the NRA shouldn’t think, the gun lobby shouldn’t think that this is the end of the response to what happened in Parkland. This is merely the beginning.”
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