Last month, Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) spoke with The Floridian on how Democrats can advance gun reforms while in the House minority. Recently, Rep. Moskowitz moved forward on one of his proposals by introducing a bill raising the purchasing age for semiautomatic firearms to 25 years of age.
"After the shooting at my high school in Parkland, I successfully helped raise the age to buy a gun in Florida. Now, I’m filing a bill in Congress to raise the age to buy a semiautomatic firearm from 18 to 25. We no longer need moments of silence. We need moments of action," Rep. Moskowitz tweeted.
After the shooting at my high school in Parkland, I successfully helped raise the age to buy a gun in Florida. Now, I’m filing a bill in Congress to raise the age to buy a semiautomatic firearm from 18 to 25.
We no longer need moments of silence. We need moments of action. pic.twitter.com/24gTX5k70k
— Congressman Jared Moskowitz (@RepMoskowitz) May 10, 2023
In his press release, Moskowitz cited research suggesting young men between 15 and 25 are the most at-risk demographic to become mass shooters.
Moreover, he cited FBI statistics showing men under 30 were involved in exactly half of all homicides, shootings included, in 2020.
Moskowitz had previously inferred raising the purchasing age to 25 in our interview with him if a flat ban on assault weapons proved impossible.
"Obviously, I support an assault weapons ban, but also, I'm looking at maybe raising the age to buy an assault weapon, maybe to twenty-five, so that we can continue to reduce assault weapons getting into the hands of kids who then walk into schools," Moskowitz told The Floridian.
The Sun Sentinel reported that Moskowitz's proposed bill, which currently has no co-sponsors, has a slim chance of getting through the Republican-controlled House, but this is unlikely to deter him, for he had also stated a key strategy Democrats must pursue to achieve gun reforms is to keep the pressure.
"We need to continue to talk about that issue obviously right now, the majority in the House is not moving any bills. Whether that is school security, or mental health, or anything dealing with guns at all, whether it's AR-15s or background checks, red flag laws, they're moving none of that. So what the Democrats have to do is we have to continue to talk about that issue and have a more sustained effort," said Moskowitz.
The Floridian questioned Moskowitz if he meant all semi-automatic firearms. Moskowitz responded, "not handguns."
