Why can you buy a longarm at 18 but a handgun only at 21?

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Another thing about the military, if you can not legally have firearms you cannot carry a military small arm either. We (Air Force) must sign a form (Insert someones name here ACT) that says we have not been convicted of domestic violence, not a felon, all that. If we are, well, I would guess we would be out very quickly.
Domestic Violence can not be waived. Felonies can be.
 
Johnny_Dollar said:
Whitman,Grandpa let me shoot groundhogs ,whose holes were wrecking his cattle on the farm in NJ, at age 9 in 1955 with a .22LR.

Would I have been more irresponsible with a .22 pistol?
I don't think so.These laws are stupid and make no sense.
Let us go back to the 27 words in the Second Amendment.

Johnny, so you think today's youth are responsible enough to buy a handgun at age 9? I too was shooting at a very young age, but when I was 16-24 I did a lot of stupid things (as do so many of today's young adults) . I'm glad I didn't have a handgun during those years, most likely I wouldn't be able to own one today.

I know there are the exceptionally good kids out there that are suffering from this law, but I wouldn't change it.
 
I think Wal-Mart only asks "For a pistol or rifle?" for .22 LR. If you're 18 and own a Hi-Point Carbine, you are SOL.
 
50 years is a tiny fractional change in the thousands of years of human development.

I am not talking about evolution, I am talking about expectations and social development.

People used to make thier mistakes in thier teenage years because they were able to make those mistakes. They learned earlier and were responsible sooner.
Today most go through the same process in thier 20s.

Consider in many states someone under 18 cannot even get a license anymore or have a similar age passenger without many months of drivers ed. In fact they still cannot drive between 11pm and 5am in California, and cannot have a passenger under 20 for over a year even after they get thier license (which took a minimum of 6 months of a permit and drivers ed courses). Why do they even get a license before 18 anymore?!
A couple generations ago the drinking age was 18 in several states, not 21 like it has become.
Firearms were both available to and used by teenagers on a regular basis.

In fact it starts even earlier. Pre-teens used to be allowed to do things that could result in injury, and required thought.
Today bicycle helmets are mandated by law many places. They cannot play with fireworks. They don't even let them play games like dodge ball and tag many places anymore because they can get hurt. If they role play cops and robbers or pretend to be soldiers etc they can be suspended because it involves pretend guns and weapons.
While children a few generations ago played with slingshots wooden swords, and BB guns, actual weapons, like they play with airsoft today.
Kids used to learn life lessons earlier, they also got hurt more.
Now they are brainwashed and protected from themselves much more.
Now they learn those lessons later in life.

In all age brackets many lessons once learned have been pushed into a later age bracket. So people learn those lessons and gain the responsibility associated with those lessons later in life now.
The result is each age bracket is on average less responsible than they used to be. That extends into the 20s. While most of the same process used to finish by the mid to late teens.
 
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Before that was passed, a 10 year old could mail-order just about anything under the sun, and have it delivered to his doorstep, no ID or background check required.

And the gun crime rate was the same as it is now.
 
I never realized they suspected a 17 year old was the shooter on the grassy knoll.

What do you mean?

They know who it was.

We're the ones who have to speculate.:D
 
Originally Posted by ArmedBear
You can buy the ammo, as long as it's not for a handgun.

There are carbines made in 9mm, .40, 10mm, .38/.357, .44, .45, .41...

Oh ive tried that one. Ive even referenced model numbers of lever action guns that shoot .38 special, and they never cave. The only way i ever buy any is if either A. The guy doesnt know/ doesnt care to check my ID or B. If they ask handgun or rifle, and I say rifle (this only works occasionally at commie-mart).

You can buy it from me every day I'm open. Any store that doesn't sell the above mentioned calibers to people under 21 should be taken to task and the local ATF should also be called.

The federal law states:

"It shall be unlawful for a person to sell, deliver, or otherwise transfer to a person who the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is a juvenile-

A) a handgun; or

B) ammunition that is suitable for use only in a handgun."
 
Its pretty much been said before, but Im thinking its due to the fact that a). handguns are used in a majority of weapon related crimes and b). they are far more easily concealed vs. long guns, and C). most long guns (particularly shotguns) are used for hunting animals...not humans (speaking purely of the "anti-gun" type mindset). Hence, at least according to the politicos/anti-gun crowd, handguns are to be considered more "evil" prone and therefore, require a more "mature" mindset when handling (as ridiculous as that may sometimes seem).
 
Handgun Private Sale 18

You can buy a handgun in a private sale at 18...IF possession of a handgun is legal in your home state at 18. I bought a handgun in a private sale at the age of 20 in Arkansas. Perfectly legal there and got a real clean lightly used (as in one box through it) handgun that I have been very happy with for several years now. Look in the classifieds or gunbroker...I found mine on gunbroker and the seller happened to also be in Arkansas when i was in Arkansas...we swapped numbers...met up...and made the sell. Worked out great for both of us.
 
The powers that be had to pick an age and the 18 year old age corresponds to when most young adults graduate from High School. That doesn't make you any more mature, but you are considered an adult from a criminal law perspective at that point.

I am 18 and open carry my pistol all the time. It irks me that I can't purchase ammo for it.

It did me also. But it was 22 rifle ammo when I was under 16. Never really shot handguns until I was over 21 and could afford to buy what I wanted. But then again, I couldn't have afforded to buy a quality handgun when I was 18 or 19. Every penny went for college.

How do kids buy cigarettes or beer? They do it the same with ammo.

From a safety perspective, it is much easier to be un-safe with a handgun than a long gun.

Johnny Dollar, I actually think you could have been a lot less safe shooting groundhogs when you were young with a handgun versus a rifle. But people reach maturity at different points in their life depending on their upbringing and exposure to firearms and their use. You might have been safer at that age than most adults.

It's a circular argument. It is just the law. No other real explanation.
 
wyocarp said:
The federal law states:

"It shall be unlawful for a person to sell, deliver, or otherwise transfer to a person who the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is a juvenile-

A) a handgun; or

B) ammunition that is suitable for use only in a handgun."

Where in Code is that? Cause I'd like to take a print-out of that up to the local Academy's, as they dont sell .22LR unless you're 21. The only exception is if you buy a .22LR Rifle with the ammunition. No "rifle or handgun" question, everything behind the counter is 21-only. :(

As to the guy who cant buy ammo for his handgun, if it is a handgun-only round, there aren't any laws against straw purchases for ammo that I know of. So if nothing else you should be able to have an over-21 friend/relative buy ammunition for you.
 
Heres the real head scratcher. Im 19. I live in Florida. I can buy a handgun in a FTF transaction, and I can legally own one. I cannot however purchase handgun ammunition until im 21.

Im legally allowed to own the gun, and I can even (and do) keep it in my glovebox for lawful SD purposes. I just cant legally buy ammunition for it.
Because you're trying to buy the ammo from an FFL dealer. Buy it from a private party. ;)
 
Sorry,you're selling,I'm not buying.
50 years is a tiny fractional change in the thousands of years of human development.
No sale,try down the street! :D

And violent crime rates are at there lowest levels since at least 1973, further detracting from your argument.
He was on the right track. Society in general is different now then it was in those other decades.

The lower crime rate today has more to do with the aging of the baby boomer generation. We're a nation of old farts now. ;)
 
Why? Because they can. It isn't constitutional and wouldn't stand up in court if it was ever brought there. The same applies to alcohol sales. If one is a legal adult at 18 how can there be lawful restrictions purchasing a legal product? The reason this won't change is because the effected demographics will never bring legal action. Could you imagine if a law was passed making it illegal for an elderly person to purchase a handgun based on age? A legal action would be immediate.
 
The day after I turned 18 I walked in to a gun store and got my one and only shotgun. Got what I needed to fit a pistol grip to it and six boes of ammo. Looking back on that day I have to wonder what I looked like. I had a shaved head, muscle shirt, a nasty look on my face, 22" arms and a 44" chest.

And of course I had to sneak the shotgun into the house, keep it hidden from my parents and I only got to shoot it a few times a year when my uncle took me to the range(they wouldn't let people under 21 on by themselves).

I never shot anyone till the age of 21 or after and likely never will, never felt the want or need, survived three attempted carjacking/armed robberries with nothing but my bare hands and a bad as hell attitude(figured if I was going out, I was going for Valhalla).

I don't think I would have been any different with a handgun or concealed weapon's permit.

When it comes to guns we've allowed the weak, cowardly, and unfit(unfit to be Americans) set the tone of what is right and what is wrong. The ignorant, knowing little to nothing about guns, were cowed in masse to support those who destroyed our rights and betrayed our Constitution.
 
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See: GCA 1968.

Before that was passed, a 10 year old could mail-order just about anything under the sun, and have it delivered to his doorstep, no ID or background check required.
________________

Not totally true.

State and local laws applied per the Federal Firearms Act of 1938

You can buy or own a pistol privately at 18
 
Dokkalfar said:
(1.) Where in Code is that? Cause I'd like to take a print-out of that up to the local Academy's, (2.) as they dont sell .22LR unless you're 21. The only exception is if you buy a .22LR Rifle with the ammunition. No "rifle or handgun" question, everything behind the counter is 21-only.

(3.) As to the guy who cant buy ammo for his handgun, if it is a handgun-only round, there aren't any laws against straw purchases for ammo that I know of. So if nothing else you should be able to have an over-21 friend/relative buy ammunition for you.

1. It's in 18 USC 922(x) and there are exceptions to it, you'll need to read all of (x) for yourself, I am not going to post the whole thing here.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00000922----000-.html

(x)
(1) It shall be unlawful for a person to sell, deliver, or otherwise transfer to a person who the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is a juvenile—
(A) a handgun; or
(B) ammunition that is suitable for use only in a handgun.
(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term “juvenile” means a person who is less than 18 years of age.
'

That is NOT the limiting factor in Federal law, however. The limiting factor is 18 USC 922(b)(1):
(b) It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to sell or deliver—
(1) any firearm or ammunition to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than eighteen years of age, and, if the firearm, or ammunition is other than a shotgun or rifle, or ammunition for a shotgun or rifle, to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than twenty-one years of age;

2. HOWEVER, the BATFE has published in their 2005 Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide on page 182:
http://www.atf.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/2005/p53004/p53004.pdf

(F7) May a licensee sell interchangeable ammunition such as .22 cal. rimfire to a person less than 21 years old?

Yes, provided the buyer is 18 years of age or older, and the dealer is satisfied
that it is for use in a rifle. If the ammunition is intended for use in a handgun, the 21 year old minimum age requirement is applicable.
[18 U.S.C. 922(b)(1), 27 CFR 478.99(b)]

So we know that Academy Sports is full of you-know-what, but that has already been established as fact a long time ago.

3. The same "straw purchase" statute applies to ammunition purchased from a dealer as it does to the firearm:
18 USC 922(a)(6):
(a) It shall be unlawful—
(6) for any person in connection with the acquisition or attempted acquisition of any firearm or ammunition from a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector, knowingly to make any false or fictitious oral or written statement or to furnish or exhibit any false, fictitious, or misrepresented identification, intended or likely to deceive such importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector with respect to any fact material to the lawfulness of the sale or other disposition of such firearm or ammunition under the provisions of this chapter;

HOWEVER, a 21+ person can purchase ammunition for use in a handgun for a person 20- if they don't make any false oral or written statement to the dealer. For instance, you're at Walmart with your 18+ friend and you are buying .22lr for his MKIII pistol. You ask the counter person for the box. He scans it in the register and it asks handgun or rifle. The clerk asks you handgun or rifle. You say handgun. Cash register asks ID for 21 or over. Cashier asks you for your ID. You show it to him. Sale goes through. You walk out the store. As long as you were never asked "Are you the actual purchaser of the ammunition" and as long as you never lie to the cashier, then 18 USC (a)(6) has been satisfied and the transaction is legal.

I hope this clears things up as to what the actual statutes say. And yes, we have confirmed, those stores that will not sell any ammunition that CAN be used in handguns to 20- are doing so as a matter of choice and not law. The intended USE of the ammunition by the purchaser is what is restricted by law.
 
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