HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – A Pennsylvania lawmaker has proposed raising the state’s minimum age to purchase a semi-automatic firearm to 21 years old.

In a memo to House members published Monday, State Representative Melissa Shusterman (D-Chester) pointed to the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida where 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people.

Cruz pled guilty to the shooting in 2021, however, a Broward County jury’s decision not to sentence Cruz to death.

Shusterman said in her memo that those who are not able to purchase alcohol should not be able to buy a weapon capable of committing a mass shooting.

“This is unacceptable – we cannot continue to allow children to purchase weapons with such firepower,” said Shusterman.

A copy of the legislation was not immediately available, but Shusterman said the bill would prevent someone under the age of 21 “from purchasing a semi-automatic assault rifle capable of holding more than five rounds of ammunition.”

In Pennsylvania, the minimum age to apply for a license to carry is 21 and anyone under 18 is not allowed to possess a firearm.