More customers under 21 inquiring about gun purchases

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The manager of an area gun shop said sales have not increased as he expected after the tragedy in Parkland. 

However, gun shop owners said more people under 21 have called to inquire about purchases.

People at Green Acres Sporting Goods said they were curious about Gov. Rick Scott's proposal to change the legal gun purchasing age to 21. 

"We had one that was 20 years old, and he wanted one, but he knows they passed the law, so he knows he'd have to wait a year," Green Acres Sporting Goods manager Z. Farhat said.

"I don't have any problems with a 19-year-old," customer Noella Smyth said. "It's all the background checks you have to do. You know, criminal records. 

Scott is also proposing safety measures in schools that include:

  • One resource officer per 1,000 students.
  • Training for additional personnel 
  • Hosting active shooter training the first week of each semester 
  • Each public school create new safety proposals

They're all steps that some said should have been taken already.

"To me, having assault weapons available to the public is crazy, quite frankly," customer David Smyth said. "They're only good for killing people, and that's not going to protect your house, having an assault weapon.

Scott said our economy is booming, and we have the resources to protect our students, adding that it is priority.