WASHINGTON: Florida legislators on Tuesday rejected a motion to consider a bill that would ban assault rifles.
This development has come days after a mass shooting at a Florida high school claimed 17 lives and injured 14 others.
Legislators at the Florida House voted 36-71 against the motion, The Hill reported.
The vote, which effectively kills the bill for the legislative session ending on March 9, comes amid a major push for gun control reform in the wake of the shooting.
The bill was assigned to the three committees in the House but was not scheduled for a hearing.
"Because of Tuesday’s vote not to remove the bill from committee and let it be considered by the full House, the bill is essentially dead for this session, since the committees will not meet again before March 9," the Florida House said in a statement.
Also, the students from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were present in the House.
California Senator Dianne Feinstein said last week that she would introduce the legislation in the Senate to raise the minimum purchasing age for assault rifles to 21.
Last week, nineteen-year-old shooter, Nikolas Cruz, went on a rampage at the school in Parkland, Florida and gunned down 17 students. He allegedly used an AR-15 assault rifle that he had purchased legally.
Cruz was a former student and was expelled from the high school for disciplinary reasons. He has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
After the incident, many lawmakers, gun control advocates and student survivors of the Florida school shooting have urged the Trump administration to implement tougher gun measures.