House Speaker introduces gun reform legislation

A new bill introduced Thursday in the Delaware State House would raise the age requirement for purchasing all firearms.

Right now you only have to be 18 years old to purchase a rifle or shotgun in The First State, but House Bill 330 would require buyers to be at least 21, the same age required for purchasing a hand gun.

The bill's sponsor, House Speaker Peter Schwartzkopf, tells 47 ABC he was motivated to introduce the legislation after the Parkland High School shooting survivors raised the question about 18 year old's ability to purchase long guns.

"Bottom line is I started thinking about it when it first happened, and then the kids started talking about it, why was he able to do this," said Schwartzkopf.  "And I said 'you know, you're right.'  Why was an 18-year-old allowed to walk in and buy this type of gun when you can't buy a handgun until you're 21."

As of Thursday night the bill has 24 sponsors, all of whom are democrats.