Gun-Sales Restriction Is Upheld for People Under 21

[Oldgringo]

If I were to make a guesstimate on the rational for these things, they've been driven by the more "progressive" elements of our society that feel that voting or serving in the military (as long as its not their kids) are fine for the 18 year old, but those same kids can't be trusted to consume alcohol or purchase a handgun, primarily because advocacy groups of their persuasion oppose those things.

It is more than that, I think.

I've lived in 12 different states, including some liberal doozies like Massachusetts and Maryland. Thus, I had the unfortunate opportunity to observe the liberal mindset up close and personal . One outcome of this liberal mind is the desire to create a nanny state by by passing laws and regulations to address every possible social condition, problem, or injustice. This need to regulate society by coercing the majority of us because of the possibility of some people making poor decisions.

The mindset that says it is illegal for a 20 year-old to purchase a handgun but legal for a 21 year-old, or legal for an 18 year-old to purchase a rifle but not a handgun is simply another symptom of the deeply flawed mindset. It is similar to the fundamental logic error that thinks it makes sense to create all these other stupid gun laws regulating the purchase process, equipment, or means of carry. Defending handgun purchase bans for 18 year-olds is no different than arguing it makes sense to have 5 day waiting periods, one handgun a month, magazine capacity limits, so-called "assault rifle" bans, or the rate at which the device can fire.

This is the same mindset that somehow thinks it makes sense that we can carry in City Hall or other public building, but somehow we can't be trusted to carry if there is a government meeting underway. Or we can carry while eating dinner in an establishment that has 48% liquor sales but heaven forbid they have 52% liquor sales!

My attitude it different. If someone commits murder, arrest them, convict them and put them in jail. If someone commits armed robbery, arrest them, convict them and put them in jail. If someone gets drunk and shoots the place up, arrest them, convict them and put them in jail. Criminalize the actual bad acts instead of criminalizing the purchase process, the possession of a mechanical tool (firearm), the length of their barrel, or the number of rounds in the magazine.

Freedom is messy. Freedom is unruly. Freedom is disorganized and diverse, has both good and bad people, and the possibility of chaos. Freedom always has people who make mistakes as well as people who make wise choices. Freedom is an imperfect society, but I'll take freedom instead of tyrants every day of the week. And make no mistake about it, the nanny state is a tyrant state.

I guess one the the messy things that comes along with freedom is that there is no requirement to be intelligent or deserving to be able to have your liberty, or liberty gets ruined for all of us.

Very well said, Jumping Frog, especially what I colored in red. 100%.

Yep, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the whole bushel....

[Heartland Patriot]

If I were to make a guesstimate on the rational for these things, they've been driven by the more "progressive" elements of our society that feel that voting or serving in the military (as long as its not their kids) are fine for the 18 year old, but those same kids can't be trusted to consume alcohol or purchase a handgun, primarily because advocacy groups of their persuasion oppose those things.

It is more than that, I think.

I've lived in 12 different states, including some liberal doozies like Massachusetts and Maryland. Thus, I had the unfortunate opportunity to observe the liberal mindset up close and personal . One outcome of this liberal mind is the desire to create a nanny state by by passing laws and regulations to address every possible social condition, problem, or injustice. This need to regulate society by coercing the majority of us because of the possibility of some people making poor decisions.

The mindset that says it is illegal for a 20 year-old to purchase a handgun but legal for a 21 year-old, or legal for an 18 year-old to purchase a rifle but not a handgun is simply another symptom of the deeply flawed mindset. It is similar to the fundamental logic error that thinks it makes sense to create all these other stupid gun laws regulating the purchase process, equipment, or means of carry. Defending handgun purchase bans for 18 year-olds is no different than arguing it makes sense to have 5 day waiting periods, one handgun a month, magazine capacity limits, so-called "assault rifle" bans, or the rate at which the device can fire.

This is the same mindset that somehow thinks it makes sense that we can carry in City Hall or other public building, but somehow we can't be trusted to carry if there is a government meeting underway. Or we can carry while eating dinner in an establishment that has 48% liquor sales but heaven forbid they have 52% liquor sales!

My attitude it different. If someone commits murder, arrest them, convict them and put them in jail. If someone commits armed robbery, arrest them, convict them and put them in jail. If someone gets drunk and shoots the place up, arrest them, convict them and put them in jail. Criminalize the actual bad acts instead of criminalizing the purchase process, the possession of a mechanical tool (firearm), the length of their barrel, or the number of rounds in the magazine.

Freedom is messy. Freedom is unruly. Freedom is disorganized and diverse, has both good and bad people, and the possibility of chaos. Freedom always has people who make mistakes as well as people who make wise choices. Freedom is an imperfect society, but I'll take freedom instead of tyrants every day of the week. And make no mistake about it, the nanny state is a tyrant state.

I guess one the the messy things that comes along with freedom is that there is no requirement to be intelligent or deserving to be able to have your liberty, or liberty gets ruined for all of us.

Very well said, Jumping Frog, especially what I colored in red. 100%.

Yep, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the whole bushel....

And the conservative and/or libertarian method should be to take out that bad apple, not dump the whole bushel the way liberals and leftists want to...

[Oldgringo]

{snip}

And the conservative and/or libertarian method should be to take out that bad apple, not dump the whole bushel the way liberals and leftists want to...

Oldgringo wrote (two pages ago):
There's an old sayin', "...it only takes one bad apple to spoil the whole bushel...". Perhaps as demonstrated above, if more time/effort was devoted, first in the home and then in the courts, to ridding the bushels of bad apples, we would have better bushels?

We have come full circle, I'm done