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In the US, it is against the law for an 18-year-old to buy alcohol – but not military-style rifles. However, this could soon change after US President Donald Trump called for tough age restrictions on buying long guns, as the country reels from the deadly shooting at a school in Florida.
Nickolas Cruze, 19, opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, gunning down 17 people using an AR-15 style rifle he bought legally a year ago. It was the deadliest school shooting since 2012 in the US, and many believe the tragedy could have been avoided had there been more rigorous measures regarding the minimum age to purchase shotguns.
What does Trump want?
Trump defended and promoted gun rights on the presidential campaign trail and during his first year at the White House, arguing that the right to bear arms is enshrined in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. However, he has been under the gun to take action following a string of bloody shooting sprees and climbing numbers of firearm-related deaths.
US President Donald Trump hosts a Public Safety Medal of Valor awards ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, US, February 20, 2018.
Mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that the rate of gun deaths has been on the rise in the US since 2015 after 15 years of insignificant change. Some 38,000 deaths from firearm violence were recorded in 2016 according to a CDC report published last November, 4,000 more than the year earlier.
So far in 2018, the US has witnessed 34 mass shootings, resulting in 2,131 deaths, statistics from Gun Violence Archive, an NGO that tracks gun-related violence, reveal.
After coming under fire for steering clear of any mention of gun control in the wake of the Florida shooting, Trump has been churning out ideas which he said could address the country’s rampant gun culture.
He has proposed more background checks for prospective gun buyers, signed a memo to ban "bump stock" devices that turn "legal weapons into machine guns," and floated the idea of arming teachers at schools against potential intruders.
Now, he also wants the legal age to purchase "all" guns up to 21 from 18 currently.
Who can buy what in the US?
The US federal law differentiates between handguns and long guns, which include hunting guns, shotguns and military-style guns categorized as "assault weapons," imposing stricter requirements on the purchase of the former despite the latter being more widely used in mass shootings.
US President Donald Trump (second, right) bows his head during a prayer during a listening session with high school students and teachers to discuss school safety at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, February 21, 2018.
Similarly, federal law draws a distinction between licensed dealers on the one hand and private sellers and unlicensed traders on the other.
Under federal law, people under 21 of age cannot buy handguns from a licensed dealer. However, the minimum legal age for those looking to purchase long guns, like the AR-15 the Florida perpetrator used in his attack, is just 18.
Regulations governing firearm purchases from private or unlicensed buyers are even more lax.
One only has to be 18 to purchase a handgun from a neighbor, an online seller, or at a gun show – where background checks, record keeping and asking for buyers’ identification are not required.
For long guns, no minimum age applies.
"Federal law is a floor rather than a ceiling," Jon Vernick, co-director of the John Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research told The Hill.
People hold candles during a vigil for the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida, US, February 15, 2018.
Some US states have toughened their firearm restrictions, opting for stricter requirements than federal law in an attempt to hold in check access to firearms.
Hawaii and Illinois, for example, have imposed age limits that go beyond those stipulated by federal law, prohibiting those under the age of 21 from buying a long gun, according to Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which promotes gun control and opposes gun-related violence.
Possessing rifles is subject to even more relaxed rules than buying them.
In Alaska, a 16-year-old can own a long gun without parental consent, while in Massachusetts, the age limit is 15. In Minnesota, it is legal for a 14-year-old with a firearms safety certificate to have a shotgun.
Age restrictions on gun ownership across the US
Nationwide, a staggering 28 states do not have any age restrictions for long gun possession in place.
**Why the age difference? **
The Gun Control Act of 1968 is at the core of federal firearm regulations in the US. It was passed in the era of President Lyndon B. Johnson following the high-profile assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. the same year.
The bill prohibited 18-year-olds from purchasing handguns from a licensed dealer, raising the age limit to 21. Long guns, however, were not off limits.
"Handguns were far, far more common and assault rifles had not reached the market saturation that they have today," Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence which advocates for gun control told Business Insider.
But that was about to change, especially in the 1980s and 1990s when rifles shot to popularity.
Subsequent amendments to the act and a host of laws passed in the following years failed to bridge the gap between the shifting trends and the outdated bill.
A 10-year federal ban on the manufacturing, transfer and possession of new semi-automatic assault weapons, including AR-15s and another 18 military-style firearms, came into effect in 2004 and was not reauthorized after expiring in 2014.
The lifting of the ban put assault weapons back in circulation, allowing 18-year-olds to lawfully acquire them.
"Americans own about five million AR-15s and it should go without saying that virtually all AR-15s are never misused," claimed a 2013 article by the National Rifle Association.
Today, there are more guns per capita in the US than any other country in the world. Four in every 10 Americans either possess a gun or live in a house with guns, according to a study by the Pew Research Center in 2017.
What about age restrictions elsewhere?
Age restrictions and gun ownership have been at the center of a fiery debate in the US and around the world, with some countries taking the bold step to increase the age limit for people to handle weapons.
The legal age for carrying a weapon in Venezuela, which has the second highest rate of gun-related deaths after El Salvador (war-torn countries excluded), was raised to 25 years old. Firearms kill more than 64 people for every 100,000 people in Venezuela, according to 2016 data by Geneva-based Small Arms Survey.
Brazil, which ranks 11th worldwide with 21 gun-related deaths for every 100,000 people, has also set the age restriction at 25, and prohibited sales of assault weapons to civilians – although an amendment to allow 21-year-olds to purchase guns is under consideration.
Turkey, which has a similar rate of deaths by firearms as the US, 3.3 and 3.1 per 100,000 people respectively, requires prospective gun buyers to be at least 21 years of age.
The restrictions are considerably loosened, however, in Nordic countries where hunting is a tradition. Finland, which has one of the highest per capita gun ownership in the world, has for years opposed calls to raise the legal minimum age above 15 – despite the age for gun ownership in the European Union being 18. However, Helsinki does not permit purchasing guns for self-defense purposes and allows semi-automatic rifles only in very specific cases.
Similarly, Saudi Arabia’s love for firing shots at public celebrations, hunting trips and for personal security allows children as young as 12 to train with firearms under adult supervision, but prohibits sales to those younger than 21 years old.
Further east, in China, uncompromising laws on gun ownership strictly prohibit firearm possession.
(CGTN)
