WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Less than two weeks after a mass shooting rocked the campus of Florida State University, WPTV is still listening to the concerns of students calling for change.
March for Our Lives is a student-led organization formed after the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School. The group, along with 28 students who found themselves experiencing both Marjory Stoneman Douglass and Florida State University mass shootings, are sending Governor Ron DeSantis a letterasking him to rethink his stance on lowering the age to buy firearms in Florida.
WATCH: Students are calling for an end to efforts to lower the gun-buying age from 21 to 18, while others think buying a firearm at 18 should be a constitutional right
As it stands, a person must be 21 years old to buy a gun in the Sunshine State under the Public Safety Act signed by Rick Scott. House Bill 759proposes to reduce the age to buy firearms to 18, reversing the post-Parkland high school shooting reform law. At the end of March, the House of Representatives passed the bill in a 78-34 vote.
“We together, wanted to call (DeSantis) out and say, we have survived this two times now in school, and this is unacceptable, and we're not going away,” Executive Director and Co-founder of March for Our Lives, Jaclyn Corin, said. “We are talking about safe storage. We're talking about rejecting campus carry, as I know that's a rising conversation. We're talking about increased mental health interventions on college campuses. We're talking about reinstating a Federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention. So all of these things together will collectively save lives.”
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Logan Rubenstein is one student whose signature is on the letter. The day of the shooting of the FSU shooting was his 21st birthday.
“I looked up and I saw 20 police cars racing down Pensacola on their way to respond to the shooting, and then the helicopters,” Rubenstein said. “And, you know, it brought me right back to Parkland, because that is exactly what it felt like that day seven years ago.”
Although the bill had now stalled in the Senate, students like Rubenstein are discouraged by political leaders seeking the change in the first place.
"There's been a lot of emotions this week," Rubenstein said. "One of them is that, you know, God forbid we didn't pass that law. How much worse it could have been.”
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Mike Perez owns We Kick Brass in West Palm Beach. He says Florida should return to what it was 7 years ago.
“I stand with Governor DeSantis on lowering the age back to 18,” Perez said. “The majority of states do allow at 18 years of age to go ahead and purchase a long gun. Speaking specifically to FSU, the laws on the books right now would not have prevented that. I believe if you're 18 years of age and you're able to make one of the most important decisions in your life, and that will affect the lives of other and vote on local issues, on your President, I believe you have the right to defend yourself with the greatest tool that mankind has come up with, and that is a firearm. It is the great equalizer.”
