How come you have to be 21 to buy a handgun, but only 18 to possess one? That sounds really screwed up to me. Does it have anything with the age for joining the military//police force, or what?
Well, it doesn’t have anything to do with joining the police force. I had a friend that joined the sheriff’s department at 19 and his mother had to buy his gun for him even though he was required to wear it on the job!
Weird…
Probably for hunting, if I had to guess.
Nevermind … Just nevermind. Long day. :smack:
Because of limits on Federal powers. If you dig through the statutes, Federal gun laws are generally framed in terms of congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce. So the ‘21 to buy’ restriction is really ‘it is illegal to buy firearms in interstate commerce unless you have an FFL, which has these conditions. One of these conditions is that you won’t sell a handgun to someone under 21.’ Since any possession/ownership law has to be a state (or local) law, it’s up to the state legislature which may not agree with the 21 age limit (even the ‘18 to possess’ restriction varies by state). Also note that in-state purchase laws vary by state, so in some states it’s legal for an 18-20 YO to purchase a handgun in a private sale.
No, weird would be if the mother was arrested and gun store shut down for making/allowing a strawman purchase?
AmbushBug
Ambushbug - buying a firearm as a gift is not a strawman purchase as long as the person you’re buying for is not prohibited from possessing the firearm. I’m not sure offhand how exactly the 21 handgun limit interacts with that (IIRC the exception is that they’re not prohibited from possessing (as opposed to purchasing) the gun) and obviously state laws would matter a lot, but buying a gun as a gift is not, by itself, a straw purchase.
I knew that; and the 21 limit wasn’t listed as one of the disqualifying ownership factors on the very page I linked to.
Just making a further statement about the screwy laws, I was. And it’s not like some persecutors wouldn’t use any excuse to shut down a gun store.
AmbushBug
Weird, I always thought that you could buy a rifle or shotgun at 18, but pistols at 21. Huh.
I agree with Riboflavin - and want to add that doesn’t that same restriction apply to “handgun ammunition”? I do not know if it a State or Federal law (my cheat-sheet is missing :o ) but in Kansas, you are prohibited from buying “handgun ammunition” until you are 21, but can use and possess it…but I don’t know if this is the same situation.
This is another (nearly) unenforceable law, as nearly every handgun caliber has a rifle chambered for it (except some exotic things like .357 SIG, but give someone time…)
Una