The National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit Friday against a gun-control bill that narrowly passed Florida’s legislature and was signed into law by Republican Governor Rick Scott in response to the horrific shooting at Stoneman Douglas high school.
The bill, “Senate Bill 7026,” is the first to pass following the shooting. Florida’s Senate previously passed a ban on the AR-15, but that only lasted a mere fifteen minutes after the approval was challenged.
The main provision in Bill 7026 raises the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21 in Florida, and another, known as the “Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program,” would allow some teachers to be armed if both the local school district and local sheriff’s department agree.
The NRA is challenging the former provision in the bill. According to Fox News,
Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Acton, has maintained that the bill “punished punishes law-abiding gun owners for the criminal acts of a deranged individual.”
The lawsuit is asking a federal judge to block the new age restriction from taking effect.
The bill signed by Governor Scott raises the minimum age to buy rifles from 18 to 21, extends a three-day waiting period for handgun purchases to include long guns and bans bump stocks.
The bill did appeal to Republicans with the inclusion of a provision that enables teachers and other school employees to carry handguns, something President Trump was passionate about immediately following the Valentine’s Day shooting.
In addition to alleging Second Amendment violations, the NRA lawsuit also claims that the bill violates the 14th Amendment rights of Florida residents. “This blanket ban violates the fundamental rights of thousands of responsible, law-abiding Florida citizens and is thus invalid under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments,” the lawsuit reads.
The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law, which the NRA argues is also violated by raising the minimum age to purchase firearms.
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