Sen. Cynthia Lummis
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. (Caroline Brehman/Pool via AP)
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The Second Amendment Mandates Equality Act of 2021 would repeal the federal law that currently prohibits anyone under 21 from purchasing a handgun. It’s co-sponsored by GOP Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Steve Daines of Montana, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Mike Braun of Indiana, and Mike Crapo and Jim Risch of Idaho. It was sponsored by by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., in the House.

“The Second Amendment is a constitutional right, and does not treat 18-year-olds as second-class adults,” [Wyoming Senator Cynthia] Lummis said in a statement.

“In keeping with the Supreme Court’s Heller decision, the SAME Act would overturn our current restrictive anti-handgun statute and ensure equal treatment under law for adults under 21. Ultimately, if we trust 18-year-olds enough to defend our country and to choose our elected officials, we should trust them enough to purchase a handgun.”

Lummis Introduces Bill to Lower Federal Legal Limit to Buy Handguns to 18

 

 

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58 COMMENTS

  1. The time to introduce such bills is when you are the majority party in the house and senate and also control the white house. 2016 would have been a great year for this, national reciprocity, and much else.

    Doing this now is just failure theater, and we’re tired of it.

    • This is why there is no longer a political solution to the problems we face. The current power structure that claims to speak for the political right has absolutely no will to do anything. They’re just gonna propose the same things as the Dems, only a little smaller. Somehow that passes for “limited government”. Anyone who believes that there are more than three people in the entire Republican establishment that would have had the balls to force this through back when it could have become a reality is deluded.

      • “The current power structure that claims to speak for the political right has absolutely no will to do anything.”

        Horse fvcking sh!t.

        Mitch McConnell kept our troops in line over the past 4 years and made a *massive* improvements to the federal court system by installing judges sympathetic to us.

        To say nothing of the coordination efforts required to seat the newest 3 judges to the high court…

        • And what has that gotten us? Show me how any of that had benefited us. SCOTUS has already taken the first step towards narrowing the scope of the first case that *might* be argued in front of them so that nothing of consequence gets resolved. Kavanaugh has all of the spine of a jellyfish. Three other cases have already been denied cert. En banc reviews are overturning all of the celebrated pro-2A rulings. Can you buy a standard capacity mag in California yet? Can you carry in Hawaii yet? Are bumpstocks legal? Where was Mitch when universal reciprocity and the Hearing Protection Act were on table?

          Not to mention all of the other messes coming down the pipeline. Will Republicans filibuster the coming silencer confiscation bill? Will they rein in the ATF’s homemade firearm bans?

          The Republican Party is a failure. Barely a speed bump to the Democrats at this point. If you stay on this sinking ship, don’t be surprised when you find yourself underwater.

  2. “Ultimately, if we trust 18-year-olds enough to defend our country“

    More Republican false equivalence.

    No 18 year old is ever handed a rifle or handgun in the military, without weeks of classroom and hands-on training under qualified supervision by individuals with decades of experience training young people to competently handle the awesome responsibility of handling firearms.

    I’m in favor of a similar scheme, no civilian ever handed a handgun or rifle until they have passed extensive classroom and hands-on training demonstrating their knowledge and proficiency regarding the awesome responsibility of handling firearms.

    In my estimation, this is just the firearms industry wanting to expand their market without regard of the cost to society, another indication they are morally bankrupt.

    • You are right, civilians should get lots of “extensive classroom and hands-on training demonstrating their knowledge and proficiency regarding the awesome responsibility of handling firearms”.

      Thankfully, I am a citizen, not a civilians. Civilians are government employees not in the military. Cops are civilians. Civilians are subservient to citizens. Citizens have rights. Civilians have delegated privileges. A citizen’s rights even outrank “society”. Now go peddle your big government authoritarianism someplace else.

    • “no civilian ever handed a handgun or rifle until they have passed extensive classroom and hands-on training”

      Parents, grandparents, uncles, and brothers have been putting firearms in the hands of kids under 18 for many many years as they train our youth. Society is losing this and that loss creates a very big part of the problem we now see and deal with.

      • “Parents, grandparents, uncles, and brothers have been putting firearms in the hands of kids under 18 for many many years as they train our youth. Society is losing this“

        No, we are not losing the traditional firearms handed down.

        This bill is about retail sales, the only training and qualification required is “Do you have the cash?”

        There ain’t no grandpa or cool uncle involved, just a psychologically and cognitively immature man-child wanting a gun just like his heroes on TV so he will be ready for the zombies.

        More false equivalence…

        • Wonder where some of those grandparents got the idea for those fancy six guns and lever rifles…………nah couldn’t be westerns.

        • Minor IQ,

          I get annoyed when you post “stupid” under the guise of commentary, but the entertainment value balances it out.

          It p***es me off when you blatantly LIE: ” . . . the only training and qualification required is “Do you have the cash?””. An absolute falsehood, and even you are aware – but you don’t care, because your lie furthers your narrative.

          NO “retail sale” of firearms in the US is completed without submitting a Form 4473. NONE. VERY occasionally, “person-to-person” sales can legally be completed without a background check (in some states that still remain free). Go peddle your lies somewhere else.

    • Fine, we can add firearms courses to every Junior High and High School in this nation and require every single student nation-wide participates in these courses. Here is another false equivalency for you, if we are teaching teenagers how to drive a car and how to put a condom on we can teach them how to safely handle a firearm.

      • “Fine, we can add firearms courses to every Junior High and High School in this nation and require every single student nation-wide participates in these courses.“

        I completely concur with your statement! But I would allow an opt out for this, and the individual will not be allowed to carry a firearm until they completed the course regardless of their age.

        • I believe you are forgetting that the second amendment is a thing. I know it’s an inconvenience to you, but then again, that’s kind of its point.

        • My issue with allowing students to opt-out would be states who have implemented permit-less carry (and there are more of us every year). You have no way of preventing someone who has not completed these safety courses from carrying a firearm and any scheme to regulate this would require a database consisting of students who have (or have not) completed the various courses.

          It is simpler and requires less administrative layers to just require that everyone completes the courses.

    • Well, here’s what we can do about it. Include mandatory firearms safety courses in high school, starting with freshmen. On a larger level, give people tax breaks to buy firearms and safety training, say $3000 a year. Instill a culture of safety and responsibility through a public advertising campaign. Explain the the rights and responsibilities of owning a gun.

      This is far more constructive than “banning guns.” We tried banning alcohol and drugs, and look where that got us?

      But, lefties like Miner69er would rather the country encourage their citizens to indulge in mine-altering substances and participate in sexual degeneracy. These things are far more damaging to the Republic than guns ever were or will be.

    • Rights are predicated on the fact that you exist, rather than your training in that right.

      If we’re going to treat all rights the same, perhaps we should have vote-training? Speech/press training? Religion training?

      All training and permitting schemes are infringements because they separate individuals from their rights. The rights are inherent to the individual, rather than inherent to the permit.

      • Well we do have a nationwide hustle to indoctrinate younguns in right-think and to vote progtard. Run by the Dem party/NEA. Funded largely by property owners.

        Just not supposed to require an ID (or a brain).

    • “I’m in favor of a similar scheme, no civilian ever handed a handgun or rifle until they have passed extensive classroom and hands-on training demonstrating their knowledge and proficiency regarding the awesome responsibility of handling firearms.”

      Damn straight. Make firearm safety instruction available in high schools with parental consent, the same way driver’s education in made available.

      Are you in on real gun safety?

      • “Make firearm safety instruction available in high schools with parental consent, the same way driver’s education in made available.

        Are you in on real gun safety?”

        Yep, mandatory training before you may carry, sounds like “real gun safety” to me..

        • Commie please if anything a high school firearm safety course should lessen the required age to purchase/own a firearm from 18 to 16 much like drivers ed.

    • Lets set the record straight. You miner49er and the rest of your Left wing comrads removed all 2A education from the public school systems decades ago. Anyone on the Left who now claims they support 2A education in the schools, is just a LIAR.

      Their true goal is to treach kids about deviant sex. And to hate themselves. And to hate their own country. In their twisted minds just teaching children about reproductve biology is discriminarion against, other sexual orientations.
      Ya that’s right I said it.

      “Ammiano was instrumental in getting rid of San Francisco’s High School competitive .22 cal rifle teams, and worked to put an end to the junior ROTC program in San Francisco’s High Schools. Ammiano supported the ban on allowing gun owners to carry an unloaded gun in public. “Whether a gun is loaded or not, it’s still an act of intimidation and bullying,” Ammiano said.”

      https://calwatchdog.com/2013/01/29/anti-gun-lawmakers-lead-hearing-today/

      • “miner49er and the rest of your Left wing comrads removed all 2A education from the public school systems decades ago“

        Not me, liberals aren’t some monolithic group.

    • “no civilian ever handed a handgun or rifle until they have passed extensive classroom and hands-on training demonstrating their knowledge and proficiency” – Reminiscent of the times past when voters in some places had to demonstrate proficiency before they could register. Same racism, different application.

        • You are wrong again. The racially black segregated schools in the south NEVER had rifles teams. They were not allowed by the state governments. You are like a holocaust denier. You deny the history of miseducation in this country.

    • The false equivalency is yours.

      The comparison is not that 18 year olds in the military use firearms, but that they can and are called upon to die for their country. The fact that this duty can be assumed at the age of 18 should allow someone of same age, all else being equal, to bear possess or bear arms as an adult that is granted any and all other rights at the age of 18.

      I would call you obtuse, but that would mean you are being deliberately stupid, instead of not knowing your stupidity.

    • Minor IQ,

      Let’s play with that idea, shall we? Resolved: No 18 year old should be allowed to post on the Internet without ” . . . weeks of classroom and hands-on training under qualified supervision by individuals with decades of experience training young people to competently handle the awesome responsibility of . . . ” posting on the Internet. Or submitting a letter to the editor, or a citizen op-ed. Amirite??? Or are you a gormless git, who has exactly zero understanding of Constitutional Rights? Inquiring minds figured that out the first time you commented on this blog, Minor Annoyance.

    • Typical pathetic moronic drivel from miner00

      “No 18 year old is ever handed a rifle or handgun in the military, without weeks of classroom and hands-on training under qualified supervision by individuals with decades of experience training young people to competently handle the awesome responsibility of handling firearms.”

      DOD does NOT spend weeks on training. While riflery training in the Army/Marines has apparently improved in recent years, any idiot that claims “WEEKS OF TRAINING” is just a moron. A few days of training over a couple of weeks while doing many other things, is much more accurate

      • How long do you think boot camp is. There is no ‘weeks of training’ for any subject.

      • Interesting, but I have never known of boots being allowed to keep a handgun in their footlocker. Must be some branches of service I’m not familiar with.

        But it does seem clear that under the Bill discussed above, any 18-year-old who is not a felon or ever been involuntarily incarcerated can keep a firearm under his pillow 24/7.

        That certainly seems like a different situation…

        • Miner: “Interesting, but I have never known of boots being allowed to keep a handgun in their footlocker. Must be some branches of service I’m not familiar with.”

          False equivalency yet again. The issue of the article is the ability to PURCHASE a handgun, not POSSESS a handgun.

          Stop the tap-dancing.

    • “No 18 year old is ever handed a rifle or handgun in the military”

      BS. Basic training U.S. Air Force (1997) and we got one day. As if cops and military don’t have ND’s/AD’s, flip out, or in general use their weapons in a way they are not supposed to . . . like this soldier did here (and he was not alone):

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_al-Islambouli

      Or this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Fort_Hood_shooting

      Or this cop (only 20 years old): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crandon_shooting

      Ever hear of fragging? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragging

      TTAG already reported on this incident:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-WJMoxMfm4

      Training just makes a killer more efficient. It does not make a person moral.

      • The issue is not morality, but rather cognitive and emotional maturity.

        Why would you try to reframe the argument? Oh I get it.

        • There isn’t really much of an argument to be had. Cops, military, and humans or various ages have access to dangerous items and will use them for good and bad ends. You wrongly claimed a false equivalency when it was pointed out to you that people under 21 are cops and military. You then came back with the “training” canard even though many/most do not have weeks of training. “Training” does not stop shootings.

    • BS. The military does not offer comprehensive gun training to all hands. They give basic firarms and shooting fundamentals training, then they take them to the range and let them shoot under supervision.
      They may shoot more rounds, but the training is very basic and is comparable to a NRA course taught in accordance with the curriculum. Advanced training is in after bootcamp training curriculums and comprehensive training is reserved for selected individuals. The NRA Basic courses are the basic requirements in most states that require training for concealed carry. About 6- 7 hours by the book including shooting equals.

      • “They give basic firarms and shooting fundamentals training, then they take them to the range and let them shoot under supervision.“

        Thank you, that is exactly the sort of training and instruction I think should be given to anyone who wants to carry a firearm in public spaces.

  3. Since 2017, the age for concealed carry in my state has been 18. There has been…zero problems so far.

    • Same with campus carry. Same with constitutional carry. Same with suppressors.

      Always, there’s certainty from the left that relaxing restrictions will lead to mass carnage in the streets. Always, always, always… nothing happens of any special note once the restrictions are rightfully done away with.

      For a bunch of people who seem so obsessed with science, the left sure doesn’t pay attention to any data that undermines their narrative.

      • The progs impute their incompetency and degenerate habits on the the entire population. Does not apply in the REAL world fortunately. But they are trying hard to change this.

  4. “Houston we have a problem.”
    When 2A restoration laws are only introduced when an anti civil rights government is in charge. You know they, the republicans AND THE Libertarians, are not really serious.

  5. Same act would restore full gunm rights to all adults. Darn I thought the article was going to be about giving freemen , like felons and dv misdemeanors their gunms back.
    I guess if your not locked up, haven’t committed any crimes for ten years, a productive member of society your still not a free man in the United States of America because you once broke the law.
    Perpetuating recidivism, the matrix at work.

    • This is what I was hoping to read. Restoration for those who have been abused by the system.

      Guess not.

  6. “… if we trust 18-year-olds enough to defend our country and to choose our elected officials, we should trust them enough to purchase a handgun.”

    Yes, just so.

    • “… if we trust 18-year-olds enough to defend our country and to choose our elected officials, we should trust them enough to purchase a handgun.”

      Yes, they are called to defend their country after a minimum of 10 weeks of basic training.

      Not to mention weeks of AIT before they actually begin “defending our country”.

      As opposed to an 18-year-old just walking into the gun store and laying down the cash.

      These two situations are not equivalent.

  7. #2 use it or lose it in what ever way necessary to ensure all your rights!

  8. I’m all for childhood training in the use and care of arms.  (Although, I’m pretty sure I don’t want public school employees teaching our kids what to shoot at.) Such training should begin with safety training well before elementary school, especially if there are arms in the home, which is almost always the case.  Knives, firearms, bow and arrow, explosive materials, etc. 

    Training in the safe handling of arms should happen in all grades K through 12.  The care and use (including marksmanship) type training, should also begin early, perhaps at grade 3 or 4, and available onto grade 12.  If any training should be mandated, it should be only the participation in the safety training, with demonstrated competency only if the student wants to progress to school provided training in the actual use of arms.

    However,  “Mandatory” training or testing…at any age…as a requirement to keep and/or bear arms, is a restriction (infringement) on 2nd Amendment protections, and on the right to keep and bear arms, and on the right to defend…oneself and others…against any tyranny.  Every arms related licensing scheme is an infringement and is unconstitutional. 

  9. “if we trust 18-year-olds enough to defend our country and to choose our elected officials, we should trust them enough to purchase a handgun”

    1. Being able to defend the country and actually defending the country are two things that are very far apart. Young people in the military should have full carry rights if they want them. 18 to 20 yo people who are not defending the country should stop whining and just STFU.

    2. Maybe you trust 18 year olds with the vote. I don’t trust them to deliver a pizza.

  10. Big deal. Why now? Why when Joe Biden is in the White House and a bill like this doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of surviving. Where was this bill when Trump was in office? Typical Republican slight of hand.

  11. Adults ages 18 to 20 are legally allowed to buy handguns from third party it’s on the ATF website it’s only illegal for them to buy it from federally licensed firearm dealers I am happy that we’re moving in the right direction to reform stupid gun laws that have no effect on crime

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