Age requirement

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Charleo0192

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Me and a friend of mine every so often have some debates or "not casual" conversations. This last time gun control came up. I asked how much control he believes in. Long story short, it got me thinking. Do you agree that you should not be allowed purchase/own a firearm until you're 18/21?

Part of me agrees as I just couldn't trust a 12 year old to be safe and responsible with the gun on his own.

On the other hand, I don't like gun control.

So how much or to what extent is gun control acceptable? Is age requirment seen as a gun control law to you?
 
I think the real limit comes from price. I don't know about you but I would have had a little trouble amassing $300 for a rifle or $500 for a good pistol when I was 12 (BTW I know I could find them cheaper but I would not have had the same contacts I have now).

Hell even a mosin would be difficult. So in other words no it is completely idiotic to ban the younger people from buying firearms. Then again I am completely against all forms of prohibition especially now that I am low on pistol ammo and can't buy any myself (I wont be 21 till July).
 
You know, pre-1968, a 12 year-old could order himself a .22 rifle from the Sears Roebuck catalog through the mail. Didn't seem like such a crazy idea back then.

I don't know if I would rally against having any age limit, but I do grow weary about these varying ages the government seems to think different classes of behavior fall under for maturity. 16 to drive, 18 to be an 'adult', 19 to buy tobacco, 21 to drink, then more age restrictions from say insurance companies and rental car companies. It's like, by the time you're 25, you don't know what to do with yourself because there are no more restrictions. I THINK, that the flat across the board understood age for everything should be 18. Vote. Drink. Drive. Serve. Carry. Life would be much simpler. (And yes, I think that waiting until 18 to drive would do a lot to reduce driving fatalities, and maybe even bring the insurance bracket down a bit.)
 
Purchase? No. The parent or legal guardian needs to be involved.

Shoot? My children shoot under my supervision at a much earlier age. My 12 year old is likely 100x more responsible than most people I see at public ranges.
 
My father gave me my first rifle, a Marlin 80C .22, when I turned 13. I kept the rifle and ammunition in my bedroom closet.

When I was 16 and had a drivers license, I made unaccompanied trips to the range to go shooting. This was after a few trips with my father. Once the range personnel got used to seeing me, they didn't bat an eyelash the first time I showed up without my father.

This was back around 1963 or so.

Pilgrim
 
some 12 year olds are responsible. I'm just saying kids will be kids, and if your kid did not have to be under any adult supervision, things can go bad. Even if you like to think your kid could and will never make mistake.
 
When I was 13yo I had saved over $100 to buy the road bike I really wanted and this was in 1972. I am guessing kids now get more then two bucks for shoveling snow of the sidewalks and driveways of neighbors.

Old enough to legally enter a contract and to die for one's country old enough to drink a beer and buy a gun. Wouldn't want to see the age any lower for purchasing firearms or entering a contract.

Problem is we live in a country where the overeducated left thinks the rest of the population is too stupid to make their own decisions and the govt must help them find the right way. The right and bible thumpers think the rest of the population is either to amoral or immoral to make their own decision about their lives since they might suffer eternal damnation. As a result you can't drink till you are 21yo or purchase a hand gun until you reach the same age in most states.

My advice and I was pre med is drink in moderation, eat prime organic beef,
buy guns and practice what the good book says ie "The Joy of Sex". Remember practice makes perfect.

Live is too short to allow other people to think for you! See you in Hell!
 
Age is not directly related to responsibility but I think that parents should be somewhat involved until the kid is 18. I am 15 and many adults comment on my responsibility, especially with a firearm but seeing the other kids in my school acting like morons makes me glad we have some age restrictions. In the suburbs where I live so many of the rich kids want to be gangsters and thugs that they might go out and buy a handgun if they could just to be cool. After they got it they may not intentionally hurt anyone but they are definitely not capable of safe handling of a weapon. 16 to shoot and posses a long-gun is fine with me but the kids definitely should have to have the parents involved until they are 18 or 21 for a handgun IMO.
 
I have a real problem with someone being considered “old enough” to have developed the adequate judgment to make a decision to join the military but not being old enough to own a hand gun.

Anyone competent to be turned loose behind the wheel of an automobile on public roads should be competent to own a gun.
 
The age of majority seems to vary depending on how it suits the purposes of the government. I met a young man who at 18, flatly refuses to register for the draft until he is legally allowed to buy beer.
 
Children now days are no more or less responsible than they were in Pilgrim's days (post #5). The parents have become more irresponsible. In order to alleviate the responsibility that parents should have, we create laws to excuse their irresponsibility.
 
I fell that your parents can just buy you your guns until your 18/21 and I think it should be that way because it should be your parents that decide if you ready to have guns. But i would like the gun control laws to be abolished even the age limits but 1 think that there is just not enough education on firearms for most kids to be trusted with them so we would need more firearm education for the general public.
 
I'd be more comfortable and understanding of 18 years old across the board to buy firearms. However, age restrictions is still gun control, but 18 I can see being much more reasonable then 21. But everyone is not the same so maturity levels will vary. So if any age restrictions must be put into place then i think 18 is a good middle ground.
 
I understand his logic. It seems like 18-20yr olds are given legal adulthood but with restrictions. The government needs to decide 18 or 21, which is it?

At 18... you can vote, enlist, smoke, etc. BUT can't drink, buy a handgun or (I think) rent a car. It doesn't make sense! Ironically, you can pay taxes at any age.
 
I understand his logic. It seems like 18-20yr olds are given legal adulthood but with restrictions. The government needs to decide 18 or 21, which is it?

At 18... you can vote, enlist, smoke, etc. BUT can't drink, buy a handgun or (I think) rent a car. It doesn't make sense! Ironically, you can pay taxes at any age.
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This. If you can die for your country, you should be trust worthy enough for a cold beer and/or a firearm purchase. If 18 is too young, then make 21 the new 18.
 
I am 18, and in Michigan, I can buy a handgun from a private seller, but not an ffl. So basically, they put me in a situation where instead of going to an established business to pick up a new firearm, I am forced to go out and meet somebody who I don't know personally, and buy a handgun from them... Seems like a waste of time to place the restrictions, especially when they put 18-20 year old people in POTENTIALLY dangerous situations.


Not to mention, it doesn't make sense to me that when you turn 18, you can go out and buy an AR-15 or AK variant, or even a .50 BMG, but you couldn't go out and buy a pistol!!!
 
I don't think children should be owning guns, or using guns unsupervised, just as I don't think they should be driving, smoking, drinking, voting, enlisting in the Army, getting married or having sex generally. The crux of the problem is defining what is a "child." Society makes some necessarily arbitrary determinations as to what is a "child" for each of these purposes. The current definitions seem to work reasonably well.

In any case, age is not an insurmountable obstacle. All you have to do is get a little older. 2, 3, or 5 years of waiting is nothing compared to an entire lifetime. Just think -- people have to wait until they're 65 to get Medicare.
 
As with anything else, if you are under the legal age you cannot be bound to a "contract". If I go into a store and purchase a $1000 firearm, then decide I really don't want/can't afford it/my stupidness broke it (like by putting full charge .45 lc in an old BP gun)....or whatever reason...I want to return this item...The store can say you bought it, it is yours.

If you are under the legal age to contract (usually 18, but can be 21) the store does not have a choice, they have to give you your money back (even though you are not required to give the merchandise back.)

That is the major reason there are restrictions on what a child/young adult can legally purchase. Same reason why your parents have tp sign for cars you may purchase.

I'm not going into the legal arguments, let's just say that is how it is. The reasoning is to "protect" a young person from the con man.
 
If you are under the legal age to contract (usually 18, but can be 21) the store does not have a choice, they have to give you your money back (even though you are not required to give the merchandise back.)
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Not exactly true. Minors have the right to contract, subject to parental discretion. They are not immune to contract law, but in many instances reserve the right to void a contract not involving goods or services deemed "necessary."

I purchased my first car when I was 16. Title transferred in MY name, not my parents'. In Pennsylvania this has to be done by a public notary. The notary had no problem whatsoever with my right to contract as a minor.
 
My Dad gave me a single shot .22 and a box of shorts for my 5th birthday. I borrowed a deer rifle until I was 12 and had enough summer job money to buy my own. We don't need regulations to infringe on an enumerated right. What we need is for the concept of personal responsibility to be restored and about 99% of the government to go away.
 
The age of majority seems to vary depending on how it suits the purposes of the government. I met a young man who at 18, flatly refuses to register for the draft until he is legally allowed to buy beer.
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And like ForumSurfer said- if you are old enough to die for your country, you are old enough to buy a beer.
Here is my question: Whose children are we talking about? Do children belong to the government? In China, yes. In America, they ought not. If the children don't belong to the government, then what right has the government to decide when a child can or cannot do something?
 
What we need is for the concept of personal responsibility to be restored and about 99% of the government to go away.
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Someone buy this poster a beer. Amen.

If the children don't belong to the government, then what right has the government to decide when a child can or cannot do something?
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None. But the sad fact is that personal responsibility is nearly a thing of the past in this country. Less than 20% of parents act responsibly, much less instill responsibility in their offspring. Sadly, most folks think legislation and government regulation are acceptable fixes.

I hinted earlier that I am in favor of a child not purchasing a gun until they are 18. That is because so many parents have no clue what their children are doing, much less participate or heaven forbid supervise.
 
Whoever buys it better be over 21 though..... and don't get caught buying it to split with your 19year old buddy that just got back from a tour in Iraq!
 
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