On Friday, the National Rifle Association announced plans to sue the state of Florida just hours after Governor Rick Scott signed legislation placing new restrictions on guns in response to the recent mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people. The gun group says that one of the bill’s provisions — one that raises the age to buy firearms to 21 — “eviscerates” the gun rights of young adults.
The NRA on Friday filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Florida contending that the new Florida law violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. The Second Amendment is the right to bear arms, and the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection.
“Swift action is needed to prevent young adults in Florida from being treated as second-class citizens when it comes to the right to keep and bear arms,” said Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, in a statement. “We are confident that the courts will vindicate our view that Florida’s ban is a blatant violation of the Second Amendment.”
The NRA’s complaint argues that the bill is particularly offensive to women under the age of 21, who are “much less likely to engage in violent crime than older members of the general population who are unaffected by the ban.” (Women of all ages are disproportionately victims of gun violence in domestic abuse; according to the Huffington Post, 80 percent of people killed by intimate partners in the US are women; 53 percent of those murders involve a fatal gunshot.)
The Florida bill includes new gun control measures — but also opens the door for arming some school employees
The NRA on Friday filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Florida contending that the new Florida law violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. The Second Amendment is the right to bear arms, and the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection.
“Swift action is needed to prevent young adults in Florida from being treated as second-class citizens when it comes to the right to keep and bear arms,” said Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, in a statement. “We are confident that the courts will vindicate our view that Florida’s ban is a blatant violation of the Second Amendment.”
The NRA’s complaint argues that the bill is particularly offensive to women under the age of 21, who are “much less likely to engage in violent crime than older members of the general population who are unaffected by the ban.” (Women of all ages are disproportionately victims of gun violence in domestic abuse; according to the Huffington Post, 80 percent of people killed by intimate partners in the US are women; 53 percent of those murders involve a fatal gunshot.)
The Florida bill includes new gun control measures — but also opens the door for arming some school employees
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