Florida, finally

Florida — which has been the Wild Southeast for firearms for many years now — is slowly walking back from the brink. After suffering rates of gun violence higher than those in New York, California and other big states with far stricter gun laws. After a man wielding a high-powered weapon killed 49 people at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, in 2016. After a young man wielding a similar weapon killed 17 people, 14 of them high-school students, with a similar weapon this year.

Friday, Gov. Rick Scott signed, over the histrionic objections of the National Rifle Association, legislation raising the minimum age to buy rifles from 18 to 21. And creating a three-day waiting period for all gun purchases. And banning bump stocks, which turn semi-automatic weapons into fully automatic ones.

It doesn’t prohibit sales of assault rifles or high-capacity magazines. And it enables some school employees to carry weapons.

But it’s a cautious start.