A vote was held yesterday in the Florida House on a gun proposal package that included the controversial measure of raising the age to buy a firearm to 21 from the 18 it's currently set to and having a three-day wait period for purchasing a weapon.
Pensacola representative Clay Ingram and Spring Hill Representative Blaise Ingoglia, also chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, both sided with Democrats on the vote, commenting that they couldn't support what would ultimately be the weakening of rights granted by the second amendment. Though it passed 23-6, Ingoglia mentioned that "What I disagreed with was raising the age to purchase a gun to 21. I don't believe we should limit the ability of single moms and young families to protect themselves."
Ingram added to Ingoglia's concern's by commenting that "I've seen so many cases of people defending themselves from rapes and other crimes with a firearm and some of those people are between 18 and 21. To put those people out of being able to defend themselves, that bothers me."
The narrative has largely shifted to having stricter gun control laws enacted in order to prevent future tragedies like the Parkland shooting from happening, but second amendment activists argue that adding more laws would only affect law abiding citizens.
Heading into the 2018 midterm election, it seems that gun control will be at the forefront of issues, and reaching a solution is heavy on lawmakers' minds.
