National Rifle Association attempts to block state from raising rifle-buying age, saying it violates second amendment

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The National Rifle Association (NRA) filed a federal lawsuit over gun control legislation on Friday, just hours after Florida’s governor Rick Scott signed it into law.

Lawyers for the NRA want a federal judge to block the new age-restriction on buying a gun – raised to 21 from 18 – from taking effect, saying it violates the second amendment.



The new legislation raises the minimum age to buy a firearm from 18 to 21, extends a three-day waiting period for handgun purchases to include long guns, and bans bump stocks that allow guns to mimic fully automatic fire. It also creates a so-called “guardian” program that enables teachers and other school employees to carry handguns.

The new measures come in the wake of the 14 February shooting rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead. The 19-year-old gunman used a legally purchased assault rifle to attack the school, which had expelled him.

On Friday afternoon, Florida’s governor, flanked by family members of students who were killed in the massacre, signed the $400m bill that tightens gun laws in the state. It represents a compromise that Scott, a Republican, said balanced “our individual rights with need for public safety”.

“It’s an example to the entire country that government can, and has, moved fast,” he said.

The bill is not what many of the survivors of the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida, wanted, which was a blanket ban on assault weapons for the general public.

But it marked, for a Republican governor, a rare break with the National Rifle Association. Marion Hammer, the NRA’s Florida lobbyist, called the bill “a display of bullying and coercion”.

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Scott had been opposed to the idea of arming teachers, promoted by Donald Trump in emotional White House meetings with the bereaved after the shooting. Scott said he was not convinced about that part of the bill.

“I’m glad, however, the plan is not mandatory,” he said. “If counties don’t want to do this, they can simply say no.”

The NRA’s Chris Cox said the bill punishes law-abiding gun owners for the criminal acts of a “deranged individual”.

“Securing our schools and protecting the constitutional rights of Americans are not mutually exclusive,” he said.

Student activists called the legislation “a baby step”.

“Obviously, this is what we’ve been fighting for. It’s nowhere near the long-term solution,” said Chris Grady, a senior at the school and an organizer of a rally against gun violence planned for 24 March in Washington, called March for our Lives.

“It’s a baby step, but a huge step at the same time. Florida hasn’t passed any legislation like this in God knows how long.”