Do you own a handgun? If so, did you yourself purchase it? Did you do so before you turned 21? And, regardless, do you believe a person in the 18 to 20 year-old range has a constitutional right to acquire small weapons that fire bullets?
Congress, in the waning days of President Lyndon Johnson, seems to have thought not. It then passed a law, the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, that made "unlawful" any sale of a "firearm" that "is other than a shotgun or rifle . . . to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than twenty-one years of age".
In District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), the Court held that the second amendment to the United States Constitution confers an individual right to "keep and bear Arms". Does the second amendment trump the federal statute?
No, the Fifth Circuit ruled this week. Using "intermediate" review of the law, the panel concluded that worries about the maturity and judgment of younger persons supported Congress's decision to ban sales of handguns to them. Nat'l Rifle Ass'n of Am. v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, No. 11-10959 (5th Cir. Oct. 25, 2012).
Outrageous! The government SUBSIDIZES children's television programming, yet CRIMINALIZES the sale of handguns to them! It's totally unfair. Discriminatory, in fact. Gun manufacturers should sue PBS directly.
Posted by: Max Kennerly | October 26, 2012 at 06:13 AM
So, America does not really have a 2nd Amendment, or a Bill of Rights. We send 18 year olds off to war (along with everything from signing contacts to assessing the death penalty), but we will not allow them to buy a handgun or an alcoholic beverage. This is another example of how far this nation has fallen from our values of freedom and liberty and how sorry this nation has become.
Posted by: Mike Moeller | October 27, 2012 at 11:53 AM
Strange dichotomy 18 years can go to war fight their country (using very hard heavy artillery) but not buy a gun if they are under 21 strange law. But even stranger to us Brits is the fact that anyone can buy gun on any street corner. I read recently ,following the cinema shootings in colorado, instead of greater gun control, students were being allowed to arm themselves in colleges and universities.....gobsmacked
Posted by: soliciotrs london | November 05, 2012 at 11:28 AM
Agreed. If 18-year-olds are old enough to die in war and to vote, they should be able to buy guns or drink, if they want to. Otherwise, the draft and voting age should be raised to twenty. Where's the consistency? Either they are or they aren't adults!
Posted by: Concealed Carry Advocate | November 06, 2012 at 02:51 PM