Age-Restricting Guns is a Terrible Idea; Here’s Why
Here’s why you should care about Florida’s ban on gun ownership for adults under 21.
In the immediate aftermath of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a law banning gun ownership for Florida adults between the ages of 18 and 21. As with any law passed in a knee-jerk reaction to a horrible tragedy, this ill-considered law isn’t going to help crime rates or prevent any future tragedies. What it will do is further the current trend to infantilize America’s young adults. Here’s why you should age-restricting guns is a bad idea, and why you should care—even if, like me, you won’t see 21 again unless you get a lucky blackjack dealer.
18-Year-Olds Are Adults
As a society, we’ve had to draw a “bright line” between adulthood and childhood, despite the well-understood reality that maturity exists on a spectrum…and we have (up until now) put that line at age 18. Part of the reason why is that 18 is the age at which it’s possible we might require that person to fight—and potentially die—to defend our country. If we can legally force an 18-year-old adult to take up arms on pain of incarceration (which is what Selective Service is), how can we legally force that same adult not to? How is it all right to tell someone who can vote, commit to a legal contract, and consent to the disposition of their bodies that they still don’t qualify for protection under the Constitution they may be made to defend?
This is Not “Minority Report”
Here’s the point at which we must acknowledge that the Supreme Court has ruled that there are some circumstances in which public safety does trump individual rights. (The classic example is that the First Amendment does not protect your right to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theater.) And it’s pretty easy to demonstrate that the youngest adults tend to be the ones committing the bulk of violence in America. But let’s take another look at those crime statistics from the DOJ…what else do you notice? About 90 percent of that violence is from men. Does that mean that 50 percent of the population should have their freedom restricted for the crime of being born male? Of course not—this isn’t a dystopian future in which we punish our citizens based on what they might do. (Yet.)
It Won’t Help At All (and Might Make It Worse)
Making it illegal to own a gun until the age of 21 isn’t going to make a difference when it comes to preventing future tragedies. First, murder is already illegal, but that doesn’t seem to have entered into the calculus employed by any of the oxygen-thieves who’ve been committing mass murders up until now. But there’s more to it than that, and nobody really wants to talk about it, but the fact remains: The worst mass murders in American history were not committed with guns. They were committed with bombs…and that has been the case for a century. Part of the reason nobody wants to talk about that is that it sounds as if you’re suggesting that a school shooting is somehow better than a school bombing; part of the reason why nobody wants to talk about it is that we don’t want to give the oxygen-thieves ideas. But the fact remains that when some oxygen thief decides that they’d like to make their skidmark on the Jockey shorts of society, whether or not they can get their booger-hooks on a firearm isn’t going to make much difference.
What good will a law like Florida’s do? Well, it will certainly reinforce the societal narrative—which has been spreading since the mid-80s or so—that childhood extends into one’s mid-twenties and beyond. That it’s acceptable to limit an individual’s freedoms just because someone who looks like him committed a crime. That what you are matters more than who you are. And that’s a very dangerous precedent to set.
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In the old days an 18 year old was a fully grown man expected to move out and start his own family. An 18 year old today is not. A child should not own a gun and 21 should be the military age when not at war. An older (bad) argument should not be followed because it once was true
That law was passed by then Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, conservative, Trump supporter who is now a US senator. hum!
For MY personal feeling is for ownership of/access to a firearm, one restrictions would be for minimum age,. Wnatever the minimum age for military service, with any agreements for lower ages (parental consent, etc), should be the same for ownership of a firearm. A youth could be supervised by a firearm-certified adult who would also beresponsible for handling of the firearm(s), but ownership/unlimited access would not be allowed until reacining the minimum Another would be a required class, with registered certificate, on firearm safety, given by, or through schools approved by, the National Associan for Gun Rights, National Rifle Association (or similar),, or certified by the Federal government’ Executive Branch’s law enforcement endorsement. Of course any potential firearm ownership by any with demonstrated senility, feebleness, instablity or dangerous diagnosed mental conditions by competent medical authority shoule likewise be restricted.
If I read you correctly, “you can die for my country, but you cannot own anything”! Sounds to me like you are the very one who needs to have your guns taken away!
There are many examples of ignorance in out political system one of the most glaring is the restriction of owning
a weapon by these mental rejects. If a Man or Woman Citizens of our Nation is considered mature enough
to Join the United States Military and put their lives on the line daily to protect and defend our Nation against
our enemies then they are Mature enough to Vote in any election, buy alcohol, get married and be responsible
enough to make a intelligent decision as to how live with fellow Americans. They should not be denied any
benefit of being an Adult in our Society. Nor should they be treated any different and any person who is an
an American Citizen with all the freedom to pursue their goals in life. To do so is a disgrace and shows that
the so called senior politicos are afraid of them on many levels. Yes we do have restrictions on the who, what,
when, where and how you can do many things in life but this should not be one of them. If you are an
Adult then you have the same responsibilities, the only restriction should be that you must be an American
Citizen and have no criminal nor felony history.
I, like so many of my fellow US citizens, received a BB gun at the age of 8. My first 22 rifle was a Christmas gift at 12. In WW 2 and Korea, our troops were excellent riflemen because they were brought up with firearms. They weren’t domestic “killers”. They learned to appreciate the power of such weapons and subsequently taught their children to appreciate firearms. At 85 years, I still shoot for enjoyment and am quite able to defend myself in an emergency.
If they are not considered responsible enough to own a firearm then they are not responsible enough to vote. An uninformed vote is much more dangerous than any firearm.
So true! Putting the wrong people in power will harm this nation more than any gun laws. Besides that, why don’t they release a list or at least numbers of 18-21 year olds who committed a crime using a firearm and a list of those 22 and older who committed a crime using a firearm. Where’s the empirical data to support them banning 18-21 year olds from owning firearms? Let me clearly say, THERE IS NONE! Sure, they can bring up cases like Columbine, etc. but that’s nothing compared to the hundreds of Blacks killed in the inner cities and places like Chicago by OTHER BLACKS. What, perhaps we should ban Blacks from owning firearms? It’s just another sheer example of LACK of “common sense” by liberal politicians (like Kamala Harris).
This falls under the same situation of laws ‘legislating morality’! There are laws against the USE of firearms to threaten, assault, injure and kill with firearms. A firearm is nothing but a TOOL! Do we legislate against TOOLS? Tools require people to activate them, and are inert otherwise. MORE redundant gun-grab laws merely salve guilty consciences, soothe the scared, placate the angry, and aggrandize political aspirations of present or potential political parties or figures! All are futile, and ALL ARE ILLEGAL! The 2nd Amendment plainly states the government “shall not abridge” the right to “keep and bear arms”! PERIOD! ALL LAWS written on firearms and controls since are ILLEGAL! But political grandstanding knows NO BOUNDARIES! So we are continually plagued with a MULTITUDE of useless gun restriction laws, Without a change of attitudes, a HUGE number WILL follow, I’m sure!
Add to that those under 18 that have used firearms to commit crimes there have been many
I started shooting competition when I was ten years old. I have shot competitively for sixty six years and can assure you age has nothing to do with safety. It is the training and supervision by coaches and parents. Many young people have saved their own lives and other peoples lives because they knew how to handle a firearm.
I would say it isn’t really a problem. When an 18 yr. old gets the call to arms, they simply say, “No.” Then, the FLC’s will have to do their own fighting, and we all know how that would turn out.
You must be an oxygen thief? YES ?
The same liberals that are pushing to restrict the age for gun ownership also want to lower the age of voting to 16. I call this ‘convenient’ logic, and it has now mostly replaced common sense in American politics. Another term for this type of reasoning is ‘capricious’ logic. This trend will continue until CITIZENS with real back bone stand up to these so-called ‘leaders’ and tell them in no uncertain terms to back off. When they refuse or ignore our pleas for sanity, REMEMBER THIS and STOP VOTING FOR THEM or anyone else that exhibits this toxic type of logic, as it is highly corrosive to our enshrined freedoms.