Posted on 02/17/2018 7:21:25 AM PST by Simon Green
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said on Friday that she will introduce legislation to raise the minimum legal age to buy rifles in the wake of a school shooting in Florida.
Feinstein said the legislation would require anyone buying a firearm from a gun dealer to be at least 21 years old.
“Under current law, licensed gun dealers cannot sell a handgun to anyone under 21, but they are allowed to sell assault rifles like the AR-15 to anyone over 18. This policy is dangerous and makes absolutely no sense," Feinstein said.
She added that "if you can’t buy a handgun or a bottle of beer, you shouldn’t be able to buy an AR-15."
The bill comes after 17 people were killed during a school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, roughly 30 miles from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The suspected shooter, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, allegedly used an AR-15 rifle. Federal law enforcement officials told The New York Times that the gun was purchased legally.
Under federal law, gun dealers can't sell a hand gun to anyone under 21.
But licensed gun dealers can sell "long guns," which include rifles, to anyone 18 and older, under federal law, with most states having similar age restrictions, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Gun legislation has stalled for years in Congress. In 2013, the Senate failed to pass legislation that would have expanded background checks, despite Democrats controlling the chamber at that time.
Senate Republicans also signaled in the wake of a shooting at a concert in Las Vegas last year that they would be open to banning "bump stocks"—a device that can simulate automatic gunfire with a semi-automatic weapon. But legislation targeting those devices has since stalled.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said during a committee hearing this week that he, Feinstein and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) would get together to discuss the issue.
OK...we should similarly raise the VOTING age to 21, and the age of conscription.
I guess the much vaunted government background checks don’t work.
They’ll never admit to that.
Now, if she wants to raise the voting age to 21 we can discuss that.
The GOP should submit a bill to raise the voting age to 21 and use the same argument. Force the dems into a corner.
I disagree. Raise the age to vote to 25. Verified US Citizens, only.
I agree, it makes sense for all gun sales to have the same minimum age.
18.
It's what she does.
Unconstitutional if voting age is 18. DOA
She added that “if you can’t buy a handgun or a bottle of beer, you shouldn’t be able to buy an AR-15.”
= = =
How about declaring transgendered with no parental notification?
What are the minimum ages for ‘consensual’ sex with teachers?
I’m all in favor of raising the age to buy a rifle or gun to 21 as long as we can raise the voting age to 25.
If a person is too infantile to be trusted with a firearm, how can we trust them with the franchise?
If a person is so incompetent at life that they have to stay on their parents health insurance as a ‘child’ until 26 why would we trust them to make a rational decision on something as important as voting?
How about a background check and voter Id before you can Vote
You are correct. Even at 21, the human mind hasn’t matured.
Wish they'd clear their heads, get off the Russian binge...and do their job. We've had this event and successful terrorist attacks since the Russian "conspiracy" emerged.
I’m not so sure. The voting age is 18 now, but the drinking age is 21. That was pushed by the Feds in the 80’s.
It was 21 previous to the passage of the 26th amendment.
This should be repealed and set it back to 21 to start, and we can evaluate 25 as appropriate.
Repeal it.
How’d they get away with handguns being 21?
Oops sorry misread the post.
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