Bill Seeks To Allow 18-Year-Olds To Buy Handguns :: 02/25/2020

One of the great injustices in this country isn’t some of the crap you routinely hear the American left complain about. No, it’s that we treat 18- to 20-year-olds as if they’re still children in many ways. These are law-abiding citizens who are able to vote and serve in the military, sign contracts, take on crippling debt for a useless college degree if they want, but they’re limited in a lot of other things they can do.

In particular, they’re not allowed to buy handguns for self-defense purposes.

Plus, since Parkland, there’s been a push to also bar them from being able to buy long guns as well. In other words, they want to keep them from exercising their Second Amendment rights until they’re old enough to drink, something that’s tolerated with any other constitutionally-protected right.

Now, though, a bill has been introduced seeking to correct this travesty of justice.

The Second Amendment For Every Registrable (SAFER) Voter Act, introduced on Capitol Hill by U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., would establish that adults, aged 18 or older, would be able to legally purchase a handgun. That right has largely been disallowed by federal law for those under age 21 since 1968.

“Today, I introduced my bill to reinstate Second Amendment rights for 18, 19, and 20-year-old Americans,” said Massie on social media.

The measure, which has been filed as H.R.5716, would reduce, from 21 years of age to 18 years of age, the minimum age at which a person may obtain a handgun from a Federal firearms licensee. According to 2016 estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, there were more than 13 million Americans aged 18, 19 or 20.

…

“Why should a 20-year-old single mom be denied the right to defend herself and her children?” said Massie on the issue previously. “18, 19, and 20-year-olds are considered adults and are able to vote on important public policy issues. They can also form business contracts, get married, and serve in the military. As adults, these Americans should not be deprived of basic constitutional rights.”

I’m with Massie on this completely and totally.

It’s only too bad that not enough of his colleagues in the House will have the guts to actually support this with him. With Democrats controlling that chamber, it’s not likely to pass. It should, though.

I’ve always believed the handgun is the best self-defense tool available for most instances. It’s more portable than a shotgun, for example. If you can conceal it, keep it in a nightstand, transfer it to your car without freaking out your neighbors, all kinds of good things. While some might disagree, few argue that it’s not good for self-defense in general. Those that do are generally anti-gunners who don’t know what they’re talking about anyway.

As such a good self-defense tool, it’s well past time we stopped this nonsense of restricting it from law-abiding citizens because of idiotic age restrictions.

Massie’s bill may not pass, but it’s a bill that not only should, it should in a veto-proof landslide in both chambers of Congress. A lot of Americans who live by themselves, work, pay taxes, and otherwise live normal lives deserve to be able to protect themselves with the best tool for the job.

Tom Knighton is a Navy veteran, a former newspaperman, a novelist, and a blogger and lifetime shooter. He lives with his family in Southwest Georgia. https://bearingarms.com/author/tomknighton/

https://bearingarms.com/tom-k/2020/02/25/bill-to-allow-18-to-buy-handguns/