- The Washington Times - Friday, March 9, 2018

The National Rifle Association filed a federal lawsuit Friday against Florida over its new law making it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to buy a rifle.

Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott had signed the bill into law earlier that day, raising the age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21.

“We filed a lawsuit against the state for violating the constitutional rights of 18 to 21 year olds,” Marion Hammer, a NRA lobbyist in Florida, told The Tallahassee Democrat.

The NRA alleges the new law violates the Second Amendment.

The complaint, filed in the Northern District of Florida, names Florida’s Attorney General Pam Bondi and Rick Swearingen, Florida’s law enforcement commissioner, as defendants.

The NRA is asking the court to enjoin the law from taking effect, arguing 18-year-olds are considered adults, and therefore, should not be banned from purchasing firearms.

“The effect of Florida’s age-based ban is to impose a significant unequal, and impermissible burden on the right to keep and bear arms of a class of millions of law-abiding 18-to-20 year-old adult citizens,” read the 13-page complaint.

Mr. Scott signed the bill Friday, which not only raises the minimum age to purchase a firearm, but also allows some teachers to carry handguns, bans bump stocks and requires a three-day waiting period to purchase long guns.

The law was enacted less than a month after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and teachers were killed.

• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.

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