First, I know a thread similar to this was on here sometime before, but I want to touch on this in a different way.
I’m going to be turning 18 in a few months, and this really concerns me.
When I’m 18, I can…
-Buy cigarettes
-Vote
-Be drafted into the military
-Make legally binding contracts
-Buy rifles and shotguns
-Get married without parental consent
-Be sentenced to life in prison or death
Yet, I can’t buy handguns or buy/consume alcohol until I am 21. Why? What are the merits behind this? Am I a legal adult? If I am, why don’t I get all the rights of being an adult? If I’m no, how come, when a legal adult is 18 years of age?
I can serve in the armed forces of the U.S., yet I can’t buy a handgun. Would I be allowed to buy a handgun once I’m in the military, or can I only be issued one? Would I be allowed to drink alcohol when I’m on leave?
What about if I get married at 18-20 and live in my own residence? Why should I only be allowed to buy a rifle but not a handgun for protection? A handgun is easier to store and to keep away from kids than is a big rifle (At least for any semi-intelligent person it is), is less cumbersome to use, and is better suited for self-defense. I would rather have a handgun in the drawer of my nightstand than under my bed somewhere or locked in a cabinet.
Drinking alcohol almost makes sense. Scientific studies have shown that most males don’t stop developing until around 21 (Sorry, no cite). But…what allows the Federal Government to enact national legislation concerning alcohol drinking/purchasing ages? I don’t know, but I do think think any law like that should be passed on the state level, not national. Also, if the law is purely to protect physical development, then why am I allowed to kill myself with cigarettes at 18? Is there something else going on here that I missed?
18 or 21: Make up your mind. You can’t go living with dual standards on what adults are allowed.