NRA files suit against Florida gun law

The National Rifle Association filed a federal lawsuit late Friday against new gun restrictions signed into law in Florida earlier that afternoon by Gov. Rick Scott. The bill raises the minimum age to buy rifles from 18 to 21, extends a three-day waiting period for handgun purchases to include long guns and bans bump stocks, which allow guns to mimic fully automatic fire. It also creates a program allowing some teachers and other school employees to carry guns. The NRA claims the bill “punishes law-abiding gun owners for the criminal acts of a deranged individual.” In its lawsuit, the nation’s largest gun rights lobby group claims increasing the age limit for gun purchases violates the Second Amendment. It wants a federal judge to block that portion of the Florida bill from taking effect. State lawmakers adopted the new restrictions three weeks after 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz entered the freshman building at Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School in Parkland, Fla., and killed 17 people. He used an AR-15 rifle he purchased legally. Gun rights advocates have noted police had ample evidence that Cruz posed a threat before the shooting but failed to stop him.