Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) expressed support for a new Florida bill that would lower the age requirement to buy a rifle to 18.

Currently, Florida law dictates that citizens must be at least 21 years of age to buy a gun. The law to raise the age to 21 from 18 was passed in 2018 in response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting, in which a 19-year-old purchased an AR-15 rifle and used it to kill 17 people. Florida Republicans are seeking to lower the age to buy a rifle back to 18, and DeSantis expressed support for the measure on Wednesday.

GOV. RON DESANTIS PAINTS FLORIDA AS THE 'ANTI-NEW YORK' AND 'ANTI-CALIFORNIA'

Speaking with reporters, the Florida governor cited his experiences in the military as being a proper justification to lower the eligibility age.

"Look, I was in Iraq. I was there with 18-year-old Marines, 18-year-old soldiers that were put out in the streets of Fallujah and Ramadi and told they had to risk their lives for this country," he told reporters.

"Then they come back after doing that, and even though they were carrying a firearm the whole time, they're told you cannot exercise your Second Amendment rights here as an adult and as a veteran?"

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DeSantis said that he opposed the measure to raise the eligibility age in 2018, saying he believed it was "unconstitutional."

If the bill makes it to his desk, it will be the latest in a string of bills he has signed to loosen the state's gun laws. DeSantis signed into law a bill allowing permitless carry last month.