

It’s also broadly popular, supported by three-fourths of Americans, according to a June survey conducted by Quinnipiac University. Gabby Giffords, the Arizona Democrat who survived an assassination attempt in 2011.īocour, who serves as the group’s liaison to state lawmakers, described barring teenagers from buying any gun as a “straightforward, commonsense policy” that could gain traction in statehouses. senators does not include such a measure.ĭespite the challenges, state Democratic lawmakers across the country are increasingly interested in raising the minimum age for gun purchases, according to Nico Bocour, the government affairs director of the Giffords Law Center, a gun safety organization founded by former U.S. The agreement struck over the weekend by a bipartisan group of U.S. Meanwhile, the prospect of federal legislation to raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic rifles is dim. They Could Save More.Įxtreme risk protection orders are an underused tool to prevent gun violence. Stateline Story OctoRed Flag Laws Are Saving Lives. “Today we reaffirm that our Constitution still protects the right that enabled their sacrifice: the right of young adults to keep and bear arms.” “America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army,” Judge Ryan Nelson wrote in the decision striking down California’s blanket ban. California, which is expected to appeal the decision, still has a ban on long-gun purchases for adults under 21, with exemptions for hunters or those in law enforcement or the military. appeals court in California struck down that state’s blanket ban on the sale of semi-automatic rifles to adults under 21, ruling that it violated the Second Amendment. State lawmakers in New Jersey, Texas and Utah have proposed similar legislation.īut of those three, only New Jersey appears likely to enact a law in the near future, though Democrats in the Garden State remain cautious about the bill’s chances.Īnd such laws might be vulnerable to court challenges. Kathy Hochul signed legislation making New York the seventh state to ban the sale of semi-automatic rifles to anyone under 21, joining California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Vermont and Washington. But to purchase long guns such as shotguns, rifles and semi-automatic rifles, the federal minimum age is 18. Under federal law, you must be 21 to buy a handgun from a licensed dealer. And in April 2021, a 19-year-old shooter killed eight people and injured seven at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis. In February 2018, a 19-year-old former student killed 17 people and injured 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The perpetrators in two other mass shootings in the past four years also were younger than 21 when they purchased the semi-automatic rifles they used in their attacks. Many people have noted a common thread between the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas: In both cases, the attackers were 18 years old and bought AR-style, semi-automatic rifles legally.
