Jake in TX
Member
There is no age requirement listed in the Constitution for any of the Bill of Rights. Only the 26th Amendment states an age. Why should the 2nd Amendment not apply to people under the age of 18? Do we allow the government to search and seize property of a 14 yr old without a warrant? Can an 11 yr old be sentenced with a cruel and unusual punishment? Is a 5 yr old not allowed to practice the religion of his or her choice? Is it ok to enslave people as long as they are under 18? Is an 8 yr old unable to send a petition to the President? If all the other Rights apply to minors, firearms ownership should as well.
The 14th Amendment originally set the voting age to 21, in the second section. Per Wikipedia:
"Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State." (Emphasis added)