WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Days after a deadly shooting, Florida State University students who also survived a deadly mass shooting in Parkland from 2018 sent a letter Monday to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, demanding he squash efforts to lower the firearm purchase age back to 18 years old.
The law that raised the minimum gun purchase age to 21 was passed as part of a gun reform package following a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018, known as one of the deadliest shootings in the country. For these former Parkland and current FSU students who sent the letter to the governor, this is their second school shooting.
One of the founders for March For Our Lives, a group formed following the shooting in Parkland, led a group of these 28 students in writing this letter, calling it “unthinkable” and “dangerous” for the Legislature to consider reverting the gun purchase age to 18. Jacklyn Corin said many of the students who demanded action in 2018 after the Parkland shooting are now FSU students who experienced this tragedy a second time.
“There is no doubt that that law has saved lives over the past seven years, and so now it’s quite ironic that this is the very law that is being threatened in the aftermath of what is many of those same students who rose their voices, their second school shooting,” Corin said.
DeSantis and Republican lawmakers have backed the measure, saying that if they’re old enough to be in the military, they should be able to purchase a gun.
Despite having support from Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez, Senate President Ben Albritton has held more hesitation for the measure. In a conference with reporters in March, Albritton was emotional recounting his visit to the Parkland high school building where 17 people were killed in 2018. He said he is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, but that he has not made a decision on the measure.
The shooting at a university minutes away from the Florida Capitol may leave an uncertain future for this measure, since it has not yet been heard in the state Senate. Legislative session is scheduled to finalize at the end of next week.
“Rolling it back would dishonor the lives we lost in Parkland and Tallahassee, and amount to a slap in the face to survivors and to the countless lives that law has helped protect,” the letter read. “It ignores the trauma we carry. And it sends a clear message to students: the state of Florida sees our lives as expendable.”
The 2018 measure raising the age to 21 years old was in response to Parkland, where a 19-year-old shooter is currently facing life in prison for the deadly violence from that Valentines Day seven years ago.
On Thursday, a 20-year-old FSU student opened fire near the student union, using his deputy sheriff parent’s former service weapon. Two people were killed and six injured.
In a statement from Monday morning, Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare announced that three patients were discharged from the hospital, and that they anticipated two more being discharged later that day. The remaining sixth patient is in “good condition.”