Raising the age of purchase, however, is not a policy proposal supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA), the powerful gun lobby organization that is one of Trump’s biggest supporters. Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks! Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue – I hope!” he tweeted Thursday morning, a day after he met with students from the school. “I will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health. The 19-year-old charged in the shooting legally bought the weapon used, an AR-15 style rifle. President Trump has called for raising the legal age to buy a gun to 21, among other gun control measures, in the wake of the school shooting in Florida on Feb.

Though there are a few exceptions, federal law also prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from possessing a handgun, but there’s no minimum age to possess a long gun or long gun ammunition. Some states, such as Arizona, have extended the age limit for long guns purchased from a licensed dealer to guns purchased from private sellers. “It sets minimum standards and states can go above that.”īut Avery Gardiner, co-president at The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said few states have raised the minimum age above the federal law.Īccording to data from the Giffords Law Center, Hawaii and Illinois have raised the minimum age of long gun sales from 18 to 21. “Federal law is a floor rather than a ceiling,” said Jon Vernick, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research. But there’s no minimum age to purchase a long gun from a unlicensed seller.

But the age limit drops to 18 if the gun is being purchased from a private, unlicensed seller, which could be a neighbor or someone online, or at gun show.įor long guns, which includes rifles like AR-15s and shotguns, the minimum age of purchase from a licensed dealer is 18 under the federal law. Under federal law, the minimum age to buy a handgun from a licensed dealer is 21. Among the issues under discussion now is the age at which it should be legal to purchase a weapon like the one used to kill 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. A mass school shooting in Florida has sparked renewed debate over whether and how to reform gun regulations in the United States.

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