Should 18 Year Olds Be Allowed to CCW?

Should 18 Year Old's Be Allowed to CCW

  • Total voters
    395
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.
Funny, here in Indiana we do not have the problem with irresponsible 18, 19, and 20 year olds that you have in Texas. Why is that?
Click to expand...
Easy answer, 24 million people in Texas and 7 million people in Indiana.
 
Depends on their experience and training. Is a 35 y.o. new to firearms better equiped than an 18 y.o. with years of practice and experience just because he is 35?
 
It's been a while since I was 18 (I'm 32 now), but if you can be drafted into the military (yes, I know we don't have a draft now, but that's the age where they can start doing so if the need arises), get your butt shot off or at, are treated as an adult by any court in the country, then you should have the same rights as any adult.

If folks think that's too young, tough, raise the age to 21 for all of the above things.
 
i'm really torn on this one. when i was 18, i wasn't responsible enough to carry a gun. most 18 year olds these are even less so and are more influenced by HALO and other shooter games. honestly, i think it would lead to a lot of 18-19 year olds shooting each other and that would be used against us my the brady's et al as "children shooting children in the streets".

if it came down to a vote though, i'd have to vote yes for 18 year olds simply because i believe the Constitution says what it means and means what it says.

Bobby
 
Old enough to pay taxes, old enough to be given all the rights of a citizen. I think if you're considered not mature enough to drink or carry a weapon, then you shouldn't be mature enough to pay taxes or be tried as an adult either.

For those against, you are pretty much putting forward the anti's sentiment of "I'm good enough to do it, but others can't be trusted." So what if you know an 18 year old not mature enough to carry? I know plenty of morons in my age bracket that probably shouldn't carry either. You can't group people based on age.
 
Every person who uses the "maturity" argument is going to have to crawl over the state of Indiana to make his case.

We have allowed 18 year olds to carry for nigh onto 80 years now, and with almost 400,000 CCW holders in the state one can safely bet that a number of them are younger than 21.

In addition... there is NO training required... NO qualifications... NO anything except plunking their money down and passes the background check.

So where are the problems you forecast? Shot teenagers? Dead bodies laying on the streets? Accidents?

When you find them you might be able to present some reasonable argument. But right now... you've got the same basis for your unwillingness to let 18 year olds carry as the Brady Bunch as to CCW in general - pure emotions and nothing else.
 
Of course they should. I know for a fact that I am mature enough to carry now and I am 16. I take guns with me all over the place outside city limits and I do nothing irresponsible with them. Why shouldn't I be allowed to CC? I can already OC and when I turn 18, since I live in WY, hopefully I will be able to get a CWP.
 
most 18 year olds these are even less so and are more influenced by HALO and other shooter games
Click to expand...

What a load of crap. I play a lot of shooting games including HALO and CoD4 and I haven't once had the urge to go try that stuff in real life. Those games are fun, they don't influence the behavior of someone who isn't a complete moron to begin with.
 
Generally speaking no, then again general speaking most 21 year olds are not mature enough to. I know we all know atleast one guy in his 40s that is not mature enough.

Now it would be great if they could, but reality trump ideal every day of the week.
 
I chose undecided, only because I'm torn between an adult who can be drafted (yes it's still a possibility) and the many studies that show this age group most likely to have vehicle accidents. It's a rough age, one in which your old enough to get married, join the military and drink (in some states) and yet immature enough to "show off" in front of friends and the opposite sex. If the law changed to allow 18 year olds to buy guns, I wouldn't complain. The same goes for keeping the law in place.
 
Every person who uses the "maturity" argument is going to have to crawl over the state of Indiana to make his case.

We have allowed 18 year olds to carry for nigh onto 80 years now, and with almost 400,000 CCW holders in the state one can safely bet that a number of them are younger than 21.

In addition... there is NO training required... NO qualifications... NO anything except plunking their money down and passes the background check.

So where are the problems you forecast? Shot teenagers? Dead bodies laying on the streets? Accidents?

When you find them you might be able to present some reasonable argument. But right now... you've got the same basis for your unwillingness to let 18 year olds carry as the Brady Bunch as to CCW in general - pure emotions and nothing else.
Click to expand...
What a fantastic post. We're supposedly a pro gun crowd and we drone on when the antis talk about assault weapons ban and blood in the streets from concealed carry. We tell them to look at the evidence, other states allow concealed carry and their predictions of shoot outs over parking spaces. Even so, 39% of people in this thread have fallen into the same trap we hammer the brady bunch for. They're not looking for evidence, they're just guessing and supporting legislation based off their feelings depriving adults of the right to protect themselves. Shame on us. Its time to demand the same standards of logical thought and analysis behind all gun laws that we want the bradys to show with the gun laws that apply to ourselves.
 
Depends on their experience and training. Is a 35 y.o. new to firearms better equiped than an 18 y.o. with years of practice and experience just because he is 35?
Click to expand...
Yep, because the 35 year old generally has something to loose which influences his behavior.

If folks think that's too young, tough, raise the age to 21 for all of the above things.
Click to expand...
Ok, works for me. The draft argument is just a bunch of hot air. Young men (and now women) have been called to fight for our country for the last 200+ years. That won't change. People are TRAINED in the military. They are TRAINED to take orders until they have demonstrated that they have the maturity, confidence, experience, and willingness to GIVE orders.
 
One other small point for consideration. 18, 19, and 20 y/o's are still under pretty close supervision in the military. When i got drunk at 18, and made an ass of myself , there was always at least one Cpl, or Sgt near by to kick my butt up around my shoulders if need be. a 19 y/o at college, away from his parents for the first time, isn't getting that same attention.
 
It seems like the prevailing argument against 18 year old ccw is the immaturity of some 18 year olds. Here is a question, will it likely be the immature or the mature 18 year olds that ccw? Any 18 y.o. who will look at his/her personal protection needs, decide on ccw, and pay for classes and fees is probably the more mature one. I have no facts or statistics, just a theory. Any thoughts?
 
I suspect it would be the more responsible 18 year old. The others either already do it regardless of the law or are more interested in playing video games and chasing skirts. 18 year old carry is legal in some states. The hesitation of politicians to change the law in their states relates to a liberal mindset and the concern that a blanket change would increase accidents just like with automobile. The young are much more prone to have accidents due to their limited experience, maturity, and judgement relative to older drivers. I honestly can live with either minimum age limit. But I'm against open carry for the time being except in an outdoor environment (woods, hunting, hiking, etc.)
 
Yep, because the 35 year old generally has something to loose which influences his behavior
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, although more likely. Its hard to give a blanket statement, or age for that matter, as it really depends on the persons maturity, training, experience, etc. If 18 y.o. are generally not responsible enough to CC then should they be allowed to handle firearms at all without the supervision of someone 21 or older?
 
I don't buy the cerebral development argument one bit. Frontal cortex development continues well into the late 20's. Compound that with the fact that cerebral atrophy can begin as early as the 40's. So if that's your argument, let's raise the age to 30 to have the full rights of a full citizen. And take away those rights at 50. I think that sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Well, I guess whoever wrote 10 USC 311 had it right. They were totally thinking about brain development. I guess your rights as a citizen to carry weapons should follow that code. If you're anywhere between the ages of 17-45 you're good to go.

All you old curmudgeons over the age of 45 can hand over your weapons to the government :neener:
 
I think that we, as a society, should pick one age for adult privileges/responsibilities and stick to it.

That same age, whether 18 or 21, should be the same for everything -- drinking, driving, enlisting in the military, signing legal documents, giving valid consent to sex, getting married, carrying a gun, renting a car, being tried as an adult in court, ... every single thing that distinguishes an adult from a child.

What we've got now is mainly a mess with kids getting privileges too soon and responsibilities too late with no consensus on when its time to stop acting like a kid and start acting like an adult.
 
Holding 18 year olds to adult Legal standards swings the issue to me. If an 18 year-old will be charged as an adult with a crime then the legal system is acting as if 18 year-olds are adult in their judgement. To not give 18 year-olds the right/privilage to own and carry hand guns is a double standard.
 
Nope, maturity factor.

Also, same song and dance regarding military already handling an M16...but as a civilian, age needs more time.
Click to expand...
...

Same reason the Military doesn't allow armed personal (State-Side or abroad.. *except in actual war zone) to go off-base with weapons (except MP's) even with "the_training" they have..

The desire to "party" is overwhelming for a long time into life and, with booze, drugs, peer pressures, it's too common for fights to break out over nothing, yet the damage that occurs can, and does, often, last a lifetime..


Ls
 
The desire to "party" is overwhelming for a long time into life and, with booze, drugs, peer pressures, it's too common for fights to break out over nothing, yet the damage that occurs can, and does, often, last a lifetime..
Click to expand...

As per post #83 are you really willing to post in public that Hoosiers are naturally more ethical, moral, mature, smarter, and all around generally better than Californians?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

R
  • Locked
State letter grades - RyanM style
2
Replies
34
Views
1K
scurtis_34471
S
SSN Vet
  • Locked
Constitutional carry for 18 to 21 year olds.
2
Replies
34
Views
2K
psyopspec
P
J
  • Locked
18-year-old permit holders?
2
Replies
25
Views
1K
Treylis
T
Warp
  • Locked
Would proposed legislation ban 18-20 year olds from handguns?
Replies
9
Views
1K
Warp
Warp
MatthewVanitas
  • Locked
  • Poll
U.S. Firearms Owners better off now or in 1990?
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
Byron Quick
B
Back
Top