TAMPA, Fla. — Anti-gun violence advocates, law enforcement, and lawmakers are calling for changes after an influx of teen gun violence.
Freddy Barton, executive director of Safe and Sound Hillsborough, says that gun violence does not discriminate based on age.
"They'll talk to each other all in a group chat or on social media and say, 'We're going to go to this neighborhood and pick handles of cars and see how many guns we can get out,' and they'll sell them back and forth to one another," Barton explained.
The organization also says that minors are getting guns from people who buy them legally. And according to Barton, teens are buying firearms because it seems like the safe thing to do.
"It's simply because everyone else has one, so I feel like I need to. I don't feel safe, and if someone does something to me, I feel I need to have a firearm," Barton said.
The amount of minors facing gun charges is rising, and there's an increase in these kinds of arrests in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.
In the past, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri expressed concerns about the need for stricter laws. "The problem is that today, today it's a misdemeanor. You're not going to get anything. And so they're doing it with impunity," Gualtieri said after a deadly Christmas Eve shooting involving teens.
Related: Teen shoots and kills his sister during argument over Christmas gifts
This year, Florida legislators passed a bill revising the penalties for minors who commit gun violations.
Read the full summary of HB 1181 below:
CS/CS/HB 1181 — Juvenile Justice by ABC Action News on Scribd
State representative Berny Jacques spoke to ABC Action News Anchor Wendy Ryan about the proposed changes. This includes the possibility of a child on probation who is taken into custody on gun charges to be placed in secure detention.
"If they continue to commit these offenses, they will find themselves in a residential facility. And so this is the next step up from a detention facility. We are adding a mandatory time spent in detention for the first and second offenses. But by the third, enough is enough. You will be sent off to a residential facility where you will get the message," Jacques explained.
"These kids are doing stupid things, but they're smart enough to know that if they can keep getting away with something over and over and over again, they're going to keep doing it," he added.
