Handguns for 18-Year-Olds? (New York Times Masthead Editorial Gun Control Rant Alert)

New York Times ^ | 11/25/2010 | New York Times

[Mister Fleas]

In Indiana 18 to 20 year olds can purchase a handgun from an unlicensed dealer and also obtain a permit to carry it. There is no more problem from these young Hoosier adults than any other age group of permit holders. So the article is simply ignorant.

[chainsaw]

Why not? Its hilarious to find the New York Times declaring people - who by the way are the most liberal voting segment of the population - to be immature and irresponsible with guns. Let’s see; they are adult enough to be allowed to vote for Obummer but they are too young to be allowed in the vicinity of a gun! Liberal Logic 101.

In other words the pen is mightier than the sword.

[Wonder Warthog]

A more germane question is why 18 and 19 year olds can be trusted to VOTE, but not own and carry handguns. Votes are infinitely more dangerous than guns. Just ask any of the 160 million dead under socialism/communism in the 20th Century.

[R. Scott]

Not only that but they are trusted to vote too.

[mrsmel]

It’s all of a piece with the left’s effort to infantilise the whole country (see “nanny state”) and make government everybody’s “daddy”.
People forget that it’s only been in recent history that this category “teenager” has existed. Once upon a time people were children then they were adults with all the attendant responsibilities.

[Venturer]

18 year olds cancarry a weapon in the military they should be able to carry one outside the military, They should also be allowed to drink a beer if they want to.

Who was it that decided a man wasn’t a man until he turned 21? That’s BS.

[Graybeard58]

I have a direct ancestor who served in the Revolutionary War, as an infantryman, not a flag bearer or bugler. He was 12 years old. It is documented.

[mvpel]

The Democrat Party defended the practice of second-class citizenship for black Americans when they fought tooth and nail against the Civil Rights Act in the 60’s, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they’re defending second-class citizenship for another group of American citizens.

[archy]

Let's ask the New York Times liberals a question: why can 18 and 19 year olds be trusted to defend our country in the military but they can't be trusted to defend themselves in civilian life? Another gun control rant the country doesn't share.

Better yet: Let's require a license and a 7-day waiting period for purchase of a copy of the New York Times. Aftrer all, the constitutional protection of the free press doesn't apply to newspapers of child pornographers who charge for their publications, since they're not *free,* nor to those who charge for advertising inside those publications.

The founders clearly meant that the *free press* was such material as political pamphlets, fliers, broadsides and the internet. Far-thinking guys, those founders of ours!

[Oztrich Boy]

The friend said “I just didn’t feel safe with that gun in the house!”

"Noöne is ever safe" - Sarah Connor.

[highlander_UW]

Compare the right to buy a handgun to the right to vote. Both can cause serious damage if used improperly, yet the left talks about lowering the voting age but resists sharing the constitutional right to keep and bear arms to even adults who could otherwise be members of the military and be required to carry arms?

This is just another area of liberal hypocrisy rearing it's head.

[donmeaker]

And keep in mind that a .44 cap and ball Navy revolver that 18-20 year olds are permitted to buy without a waiting period (as least here in California) is as lethal as ever it was. That such weapons are not sought out by criminals for crimes shows that first that lack of gun control does not create crime opportunities, and that laws restricting guns have no effect on criminals.

[ozzymandus]

Leftists want to teach children about homosexuality in kindergarten, but don't want 20-yr olds to be allowed to own handguns. Yet they can't see the hypocrisy.

[OldDeckHand]

Hate to say it, but this is some of the same kind of BS that Reagan fed us about the National Drinking Age crap. You either are an adult, or you aren't an adult upon reaching the age of majority. And, if you are an adult and saddled with all the responsibilities that entails - to include criminal liability - then you better be given the EXACT same privileges as your older citizen-peers.

It's more of the same nanny-state BS, and to this regard (about age limitation of implicit and explicit liberties), Republicans AND conservatives are just as complicit at the big-footed liberals.

[Cacique]

Liberals believe that they will control the possessors of guns. Thus, guns should only be held by the GESTAPO and concentration camp guards so they can protect themselves as they prod you into the gas chambers. After all, armed sheep are dangerous..

[DMG2FUN]

Isn’t the age limit on firearms a federal law?