Sen. Feinstein to introduce legislation to make owning a rifle have an age requirement of 21 yo

[danez71]

If we're gonna go down this road, then let's just do it right and make legal adulthood 21, period. Under 21, still juvenile in the justice system, not required to register for draft, can't vote, can't buy tobacco, etc. With rights come responsibilities, but it needs to work the other way, too.

That's was exactly my point above.

Great minds think alike

 

[AlexanderA]

They did not take away the choice for the 18-20 yr old from joining the military. I haven't even heard of that being a thought.

The military wants young, moldable minds (and strong physiques). The older you get the more questioning you are of authority, and this makes for bad soldiers. And, as far as 18-20 year olds being able to use powerful weapons in the military, it's under strictly controlled conditions. Being in the military is the very antithesis of exercising your freedoms.

 

[danez71]

The military wants young, moldable minds (and strong physiques). The older you get the more questioning you are of authority, and this makes for bad soldiers.

I agree for the most part.

And illustrates the point of hypocrisy of those politicians that want to protect young moldable minds from smoking under the gise of safety, but theyre ok with things like serving them up to the military and lowering the voting age so that they can mold thier minds themselves.


[/QUOTE]
And, as far as 18-20 year olds being able to use powerful weapons in the military, it's under strictly controlled conditions. .[/QUOTE]

Im not buying that. In some conditions, sure. In a lot of situations, barely any eyes on supervision if any.

 

[Guitarmike]

Actually, there is no need for consistency. One can be an "adult" for one purpose but not for another. Even under the Constitution, you have to be 25 to serve in Congress, 30 to be a Senator, and 35 to be President. There is no one age for "adulthood."

The degree of maturity required (and age is shorthand for maturity) should have some relationship to the potential harm if the trust we place in the person is abused. If an 18 year old votes irrationally, well, his vote would be cancelled out by millions of other votes. If an 18 year old misuses a gun, you could end up with scores of dead people. Seen in a vacuum, a 21-year-old age requirement for the purchase of an AR-15 seems reasonable. The problem is that it doesn't stop there.

I disagree, there is no evidence that a 21 year old will be any more responsible with a gun than an 18 year old. How many people here were raised with guns and shooting from young on. The root cause of this typenof shooting is very complex and no one wants to address the real causes. Was the kid on meds for depression? There were warning signs this kid was going to snap and no one did a thing about it. No law will stop this. As a society we should stop wasting time talking about doing something that will do absolutely nothing but deny honest people their constitutional rights.

 

[2ifbyC]

Feinstein’s ultimate goal is total disarmament so this ploy fulfils that quest by denying the ownership of firearms to young adults. Having failed to get her big ticket items passed, e.g., AWB, the “one bite at a time” approach may be more palatable to a larger congressional audience.

Affixing a universal age to one’s mental maturity for rational thought is pure folly. However, a chink in my RKBA armor would be the requirement for gun safety training.

And as an aside, I was a Vietnam era veteran who was “old enough to kill, but not for voten”.

 

[Wisco]

21 year old age of majority is something I’d get behind. 21 to vote, 21 for guns, 21 for tobacco and liquor, 21 for a full (16-20 probationary period) driver’s license. Juvenile justice system for those under 21 - no more charging anyone as an adult who isn’t actually an adult.

I’m also for compulsory military service. Mandatory basic training after high school for males and females who are mentally fit and then the choice of active duty, reserves or inactive reserves subject to call up until you’re too old to physically and mentally do it. This also exposes people to weapons in a safety-oriented environment.

The military needs 17-21 year olds. Who else is going to unquestioningly catch bullets in our for-profit world police actions?

 

[theotherwaldo]

I agree, Wisco. I don't know about setting the age at 21 but the age of becoming a legal adult should not be a variable - unless it is based on service rendered to the public like in Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers... .

 

[CapnMac]

This is complicated territory.

The legal age of majority was something only the landed classes fussed over, as it was linked to when Trusts and Inheritances would be become the property of the beneficiary.

So, that's a legal majority, not a legal age of Responsibility.

In landed families, your minority was until 25; 21 came along later, i nthe early 1900s. Until that time they were in en loco parentitus custody until they reached that majority. College deans, House Mothers, et al, had a very real legal authority over scions.
Non-landed persons were expected to be able to fend for themselves from between 13 and 18.

Now, through the mid 1900s, a presumption of Responsibility overlapped legal Majority. In part, this reflected the vast numbers of non-landed citizens, and the miniscule minority of what we now call the "2%."

At the end of the 1900s, politicos used their ability to manipulate these ages under law for personal power and aggrandizement--not with any logic or reason.

Which is why we have this utter mish-mash of ages for various things. Consent, military service, tobacco and alcohol use, etc. Try and rent a car under 25--the insurance companies have incredibly solid numbers showing why that is a thing. There are equally valid number out there which would support having a 16 for a drinking age and 21 for a driving age.

What we need is to have rational discussion about when, on average, we can affirm a person ought be reasonably responsible. However divorcing the power element from our 2.5-2% politicos may be near impossible.

 

[jmorris]

She says if you have to be 21 to buy alcohol you should be 21 to purchase a rifle, just like most states require 21 to purchase a pistol.

I’m all for that, except I think we should at least double that age and include voting and operating a motor vehicle too.

Would make travel less of a hassle and lower insurance rates quite a bit.

I guess She and I can both dream...easy to do so when the things you want would have zero effect on how you live your life.

 

[DoubleMag]

Have you contacted your State and Federal Reps yet , or are they singularly hearing from the other side?

 

[HankB]

The "If an 18 year old can join the Army, he should be able to buy a gun, buy a beer, buy a car, vote, etc." argument does not really hold water. An Army recruit's rifle, jeep, etc, all come with a Sergeant installed. Military life is, well, regimented.

Military service can also include exposure to incoming fire that can blow you into itty bitty bits, whether or not a Sergeant is "installed" . . . someone facing that in service to our country SHOULD be able to buy a gun, beer, car, vote, etc.

 

[herrwalther]

The Columbine shooters were 17 and 18 when they made their criminal debut and opened fire. One of the weapons used was a Tec 9 PISTOL. But wait, they weren't 21 how could they get that? Simple, they broke the law. Changing the age requirements for rifles and shotguns will not work.

 

[Jeff H]

That said, anything coming out of the Mind of Feinstein will be trapped and polluted and should be opposed.

^^THIS^^

That said, making it illegal for 18-21 year olds to buy a rifle might have helped in this shooting, it wouldn't have in Sandy Hook.

 

[toivo]

Regardless of what you think of Feinstein's proposal (and I don't think much of it, myself), let me state my strong personal belief that if you are old enough to lay down your life for your country, you are old enough to enjoy all the rights that country offers, without restriction. Whether that's 18 or 21 or whatever, it has to be consistent across the board.

 

[wmgeorge]

So the legal age to purchase a rifle is set at 21, unless you have served in the military first. It would have saved 17 young people in Florida. No, it will not stop other killings, but which one of your grandkids would you give up? With age comes maturity.... in most cases.
Note I did not say use a rifle, parents can dictate that.

 

[Walkalong]

This is just the opening salvo from Feinstein. She's trying to see how many cosponsors she can get for this. Afterwards, more onerous things will be added.

Yep, it's how they do business. The old would be "Saturday Night Special" law where they touted getting cheap "Saturday Night Specials" off the streets was written so it would also take your fine 4" S&W model 19 as well. Call it one thing, write it to take as much as they can. Nothing new.

Feinstein and her ilk have these things written and ready to go, all filed away for the right day. maybe tweak it here and there, but they are already written.

 

[Acelaw]

While I understand the "not one inch" reasoning, I could get onboard with raising the age to 21 in exchange for 1) national ccw reciprocity 2) lifting SBR laws/taxes 3) lifting suppressor laws/taxes

Seems like there should be "common sense" negotiations

 

[JTHunter]

There is a reason that Feinstein has come to be called the "Wicked Witch of the West" and this is just another example of why.

 

[.455_Hunter]

I love how people here, ON THE HIGH ROAD, are will to sacrifice the rights of 18 -21 year olds to appease the gun control pitchfork & torch mob.

Maybe I am just young enough to remember when I was the same age or younger in the 90's and didn't appreciate the patronizing attitude of many older gun owners even at that time.

 

[The Exile]

Not really the PC thing to say given the current climate but I think that the age at which you can go to war supersedes the drinking age, not to mention that's also when we're allowed to vote. But sure, the human mind at age 18 is quite fully equipped to understand politics and endure the ravages of war, it's just that hell would freeze over and heaven come crashing down if we allowed an 18 year old to pop a few 7.62 sized holes in a piece of paper at a range.

 

[The Exile]

I love how people here, ON THE HIGH ROAD, are will to sacrifice the rights of 18 -21 year olds to appease the gun control pitchfork & torch mob.

Maybe I am just young enough to remember when I was the same age or younger in the 90's and didn't appreciate the patronizing attitude of many older gun owners even at that time.

I was actually about to post a new topic about that but some food for thought, regardless of what we want with things going the way they are sooner or later something's gotta give. I honestly don't think the arguments I've seen from pro gun people are all that convincing to the anti gunners and the unaffiliated when you stack them up to videos of kids screaming in blood soaked classrooms while shots ring out in the background. We're gonna have to concede at one point if this can truly be called a democracy. This might not be the concession I put forth but someone somewhere somehow is gotta give.

 

[CLP]

I know it seems each generation looks at the next generation and says it’s going to hell, but it’s hard not to look at the youth on college campuses today and see children instead of adults.

What makes you think that? Because of playdoh-molding and kitten-petting safe places on college campuses?
I had a patient leave me a 1 star review online. Why? She left her driver's license in my clinic and repeatedly called my emergency line asking me to open the clinic up on the weekend so she could get- she expected me to drive 90 minutes back into town to do this or to call my staff on the weekend to do it. There's a very real problem with the millennial generation not accepting personal responsibility. Once I got past my derision for them (and it's not all millennials- I have a very hard-working one as a medical assistant) I realized what I actually feel it pity for that generation and concern about the future of our country.
I'm concerned enough that I'd wear a brightly colored anthropomorphic costume and go protest but I have to go to work.

 

[Kaybee]

I'm not completely against the age of 21 for firearms. But, lets face it, they are not going to stop with that. They want to repeal the 2a and take all guns. It will be law after law chiseling away until there is nothing. Anti gun groups openly say that is their strategy. The NYT already published 2 articles about repealing the second amendment.

If you want to know what they want, just look at what has already happened in places like NYC. They lumped on so much red tape fees there that no normal person can afford a gun . Any gun. Even just a small pistol in your house only.

Every year lots of good people get trapped in their webs of red tape and get arrested. Good people turned into criminals.

 

[Walkalong]

The, they are old enough to die for their country debate, is indeed, an old one.

But, lets face it, its not going to stop with there. They want to repeal the 2a and take all guns. It will be law after law chiseling away until there is nothing.

That is it in a nutshell, like the old quote from Feinstein about turn them all in Mr & Mrs America. When I was young they hadn't let the entire cat out of the bag in public, but in years since they got bold and said it out loud. They'll never quit trying to completely disarm you.

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

18 v 21 won’t matter. If someone wants to put hands on a rifle or shotgun they will. Just like smokin’ out back when you’re 15. Admit it.

This is a camel’s nose in the tent.

It is also rearranging deck chairs on the titanic, as it solves nothing.

Looky there. I’ve met my daily quota for metaphors and I haven’t even had my 7th cup of coffee yet.