Gun-control talk triggers age question
Debate over how young is too young to buy a firearm is gaining speed
You can’t buy an assault-style rifle in California like the one authorities say a 19-year-old used in a Florida high school massacre this month. But despite its loose laws on gun control, the Sunshine State may soon get tougher than the Golden State when it comes to blocking teens from buying guns.
With Florida’s Republican governor announcing plans to raise the minimum age to buy any firearm in the state to 21, California, home to some of the country’s strictest gun regulations, still lets anyone 18 or older purchase a rifle or a shotgun. At least for now.
The debate over how young is too young to buy a firearm is gaining momentum among federal lawmakers and President Trump, too, after a 19-year-old gunned down 17 students and staff in a
“If we can take steps that would save lives, we should.” — Assemblyman Rob Bonta
South Florida high school with a popular AR-15 rifle he bought legally in Florida.
It may not take long for lawmakers in California to catch up.
“I’m looking at it very closely,” Assemblyman Rob Bonta said in an interview Tuesday.
The Oakland Democrat introduced one of a flood of new gun-control bills in Sacramento this week, although none of them focused on age limits. California already outlaws handgun sales to anyone younger than 21, but an 18-year-old here can still walk into a gun store and buy a rifle, shotgun and ammunition.
“If we can take steps that would save lives, we should,” Bonta said. “We continue to have mass shootings in California, despite all our guns laws. We should do everything we can to prevent them in the future.”
Dan Reeves, chief of staff for state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, said state lawmakers have “been focused on trying to make these rifles less lethal and haven’t focused so much on the age of the person.”
But some gun-control advocates say it’s time to reconsider that.
“Even if they don’t meet the definition of an assault weapon under California law, these are very lethal weapons,” said Amanda Wilcox, legislative advocate for the California Chapters for the Brady Campaign. “In California law right now, you can have a long gun that can be rapidly reloaded and is more powerful than a handgun and just as dangerous. The age limit should really be the same — 21. In my mind, there’s no reason to treat them differently.”
Critics, however, say upping the age for buying long guns won’t reduce gun violence while making it harder for responsible young people old enough to vote or serve in the military to hunt or target shoot with weapons seldom used in crimes.
“Legal adults have fundamental rights — including the right to acquire, possess, carry and use modern, semi-automatic firearms,” said Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition. “A ban on semi-automatic firearms for legal adults under 21 would be akin to banning people under 21 from using the internet or some other modern tool of free speech.”
Hunting-style rifles and shotguns haven’t been the weapons of choice for teen killers, who tend to favor concealable handguns they already cannot buy legally in California. And few of those who committed the mass shootings that have galvanized cries for more gun control were younger than 21.
It was a 64-year-old man with an assault rifle who authorities say killed 57 people at a Las Vegas music festival in October. A 29-year-old with an assault rifle and pistol allegedly killed 49 in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. And a 23-yearold with two pistols killed 32 at Virginia Tech in 2007, authorities said.
Even in massacres involving shooters younger than 21, it’s unclear whether higher age limits would have mattered. Adam Lanza, the 20-yearold who in 2012 killed 20 children and six staff at an elementary school as well as his mother and then himself in Newtown, Connecticut, used his mother’s assault rifle. The two students who fatally shot 12
“A ban on semiautomatic firearms for legal adults under 21 would be akin to banning people under 21 from using the internet or some other modern tool of free speech.” — Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition
classmates and a teacher at Colorado’s Columbine High School in 1999 before killing themselves got their guns through friends.
Under federal law, you have to be 18 to buy a rifle or shotgun and 21 to buy a handgun from licensed dealers. Federal law allows unlicensed sales, such as at gun shows, at any age for rifles and shotguns and at 18 for handguns. Federal law also lets anyone older than 18 possess a handgun and sets no age limit for long gun possession.
While many states including California go further than federal law in restricting handgun sales, only Hawaii and Illinois set a minimum age of 21 to buy or possess a rifle or shotgun, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
But the Feb. 14 Florida shooting has brought calls for reconsidering the legal age for buying rifles even from many who have traditionally supported gun rights.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Jeff Flake, RAriz., are working on a bill to raise the minimum age across the country to buy rifles to 21. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan.; and Rep. John Faso, R-N.Y., voiced support for the idea since the Florida shooting.
This week, California lawmakers introduced 10 new gun control bills, with proposals that would expand the definition of assault rifles and allow more people to seek gun violence restraining orders.
They say the state’s assault weapons ban here already reduces access to the deadliest weapons most often used in shooting sprees. Civilian versions of assault rifles cannot fire continuously with one pull of the trigger like their military counterparts. But features like pistol grips and detachable high-capacity ammunition magazines allow deadly rapid fire. By contrast, most rifles and shotguns made for hunters or competition shooters cannot fire many rounds without reloading.
“In the state of California, the AR-15 is already banned, that’s why this conversation on age limits isn’t on the table,” said Assemblyman Evan Low, D-Campbell, an author of some gun control bills this week. Or as Reeves put it, “We’ve neutered long guns to where they are seldom used in crime.”
One thing both sides of the gun debate agree on is there are a lot of inconsistencies when it comes to youth and rights. Low, who introduced legislation to lower the voting age to 17, noted that’s the minimum age to serve in the military. But it’s not old enough to buy beer or rent a car.
“The definition of adulthood is subjective,” Low said. But Combs asked, “What other constitutional right could be banned until age 21: The right to vote? Free speech? Protest? Assembly? Due process? Speedy trials? Worship? Equal protection? The answer, of course, is none.”