Recently, there was a diary about a father who wanted to have his two year old daughter shoot. Let's bring that to the other side of the child/adult spectrum: when you first turn into a legal adult @ 18.
My own personal opinion is that once you hit legal adult age, you should be able to do anything that's legal in the country you're a citizen of. So if turning 18 means you're a legal adult, then you should be able to drink, own a firearm, or run for president (or a different office; which would require amending the Constitution, I know.)
These are just a few examples to illustrate my point. Since this is RKBA, let's concentrate on the firearms.
Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a DKos group of second amendment supporters who have progressive and liberal values. We don't think that being a liberal means one has to be anti-gun. Some of us are extreme in our second amendment views (no licensing, no restrictions on small arms) and some of us are more moderate (licensing, restrictions on small arms.) Moderate or extreme or somewhere in between, we hold one common belief: more gun control equals lost elections. We don't want a repeat of 1994. We are an inclusive group: if you see the Second Amendment as safeguarding our right to keep and bear arms individually, then come join us in our conversation. If you are against the right to keep and bear arms, come join our conversation. We look forward to seeing you, as long as you engage in a civil discussion.
Here's a
case about 18 year olds and RKBA:
At eighteen years of age, law-abiding citizens in this country are considered adults for almost all purposes and certainly for the purposes of the exercise of fundamental constitutional rights.Indeed, at eighteen, citizens are eligible to serve in the military—to fight and die by arms for the country.Indeed, male citizens in this age-group are designated members of the militia by federal statute, 10 U.S.C. § 311(a), and may be conscripted to bear arms on behalf of their country, 50 U.S.C. §§ 453(a), 454(a).Yet, Section 922(b)(1) of the federal criminal code prohibits law-abiding adults in this age group from lawfully purchasing—from the most prevalent and readily available source—what the Supreme Court has called “the quintessential self-defense weapon” and “the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self-defense in the home.”Heller, 128 S. Ct. at 2818.
This turned into
Jennings v. BATFE:
In essence, it is within the purview of Congress, not the courts, to weigh the relativepolicy considerations and to make decisions as to the age of the customer to whom thoselicensed by the federal government may sell handguns and handgun ammunition.
See Fergusonv. Skrupa, 372 U.S. 726, 729 (1963) (“Under the system of government created by ourConstitution, it is up to the legislatures, not courts, to decide on the wisdom and utility of legislation.”). Therefore, with regard to the Second Amendment issue, Defendants’ Motion forSummary Judgment is GRANTED, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) is DENIED as moot, and Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED.
So where does this fit in for you? Is this reasonable? Should the age of adulthood be raised to 21 to fit the drinking and handgun buying age?
What do you think?