The National Rifle Association (NRA)has sued Florida after it passed a gun control law in the wake of a school shooting last month that left 17 people dead.
Governor Rick Scott, a Republican and staunch ally of the gun lobby, enacted the bill.
The law raises the legal age for buying rifles in Florida, but also allows the training and arming of school staff.
It does not ban semi-automatic rifles like the one used in the 14 February massacre in Parkland.
But it does introduce a three-day waiting period on all gun sales and a ban on bump stocks, a device that enables semi-automatic rifles to fire hundreds of rounds a minute.
The NRA filed its lawsuit on Friday just an hour after the bill was signed by the governor.
The complaint says the law violates the second amendment of the US constitution, which governs the right to bear arms.
It also argues the bill breaches the 14th amendment’s equal protection clause by banning law-abiding citizens between 18-21 from buying guns.
The legal action says the Florida legislation particularly affects young women.
“Females between the ages of 18 and 21 pose a relatively slight risk of perpetrating a school shooting... or, for that matter, a violent crime of any kind,” says the lawsuit.
The bill’s passage by a Republican-controlled legislature in a state where the NRA wields considerable influence is seen as a testament to an impassioned pro-gun control campaign launched by young survivors of the shooting and parents of the victims.
Governor Scott signed the bill surrounded by Parkland students and families.
“Today should serve as an example to the entire country that government can and must move fast,” he said.
- BBC.com