PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. — Florida lawmakers are moving to lower the age to buy a long gun back to 18 as they prepare to enter the 2026 session. The move rolls back a law passed in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy in Parkland.

This is the third try in the House to roll back the minimum age for gun sales and it’s already ready for a floor vote, likely on Thursday.

This time, signs are, it may have a better chance.

Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, a conservative and National Rifle Association member, came out against the bill in 2025’s session.

But this time, he left the question open in an appearance on “This Week in South Florida.”

“We are taking the temperature of our senators,” Albritton said.

Broward School Board member Debra Hixon, who lost her husband Chris at MSD, was among the Parkland families in Tallahassee a month after the massacre, when a deeply conservative legislature and governor passed and signed the MSD Safety Act on a unanimous, bipartisan basis.

The bill, Hixon said, was “in honor of those who were taken from us (and) based upon things we knew would make our communities better.”

Now, she said, “It feels like a slap in the face to my family and my husband’s memory for them to want to change it.”

After the last attempt, Alyssa Alhadeff’s mom, Broward School Board member Lori Alhadeff, and Gina Montalto’s dad, Tony Montalto — who founded Stand With Parkland — backed keeping the laws they say keep students and teachers safe.

But Alaina Petty’s father, Ryan Petty, on the MSD Public Safety Commission, told Local 10 News his position has evolved.

“I’ve had a change of heart, if you will, as I’ve learned more,” Petty said. “I think we have a better handle on what’s going on, particularly in the realm of protecting Florida schools.”

Some of the Parkland families are headed to Tallahassee ahead of the floor vote.

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