Should we lower the age to purchase guns?

So I was thinking about gun ownership and realized just how unfair it is to young people that they are not allowed to protect themselves strictly due to their age. After all you have to be 18 to purchase a shotgun or rifle and 21 before you can purchase a handgun. Frankly handguns are the only thing you are allowed to carry with you for protection (concealed or not.....whatever doesn't make a difference to me) in most places without it being taboo. You try the same with a shotgun or rifle and you will likely be arrested despite the fact that you are simply exercising your 2nd amendment rights.

I get that there is no way we will ever see people get behind removing the age of ownership, but I suggest lowering it to 15 or so. In a world where seconds count and the cops are minutes away I would like to see my son be able to protect himself. What do you guys think? If we were able to lower the rate at which little children become victims to gun violence would you get behind lowering the age to 15 maybe 14?

Edit at the very least allow people to buy handguns at age 18.

You don't always have to be 18 or 21 to possess a firearm.

14 or 15? LOL

Surely a troll thread.

not really, kids get in scrapes at that age, school shootings happen (at any age), muggings happen, and as a father I don't want my life or other parents to have their lives destroyed in a matter of seconds.

I get that teachers should have firearms ready for school shootings like the horrible Sandy Hook incidents (sometimes kids are just too young), but in the case of muggings on the street shouldn't kids have the right to fend for their lives?

true, I actually meant purchasing which is what I said continuously in my first two paragraphs.

Absolutely. We should be training children as young as 9.

lmao you don't want lives destroyed in a matter of seconds but you advocate arming more people? LOL

The solution to guns isn't more guns. This is surely a troll/parody thread

...firearms aren't allowed on most school campuses, even most universities

I should add that I want them to receive training as those who have training respect guns the most.

Also ideas that differ from your own are not automatically "troll threads" we just happen to disagree. And yes, despite the fact that you will disagree, the way to keep people safe from the wrong people with guns is arming the right people with guns. That's why we have the police.

So you want to protect lives by arming 14 year old? We all know how stable they are, so sounds legit...

I would be okay with lowering the age to buy all firearms to 18. If 18 year old soldiers can carry pistols and be responsible, so can their civilian counterparts.

They should be able to play a part in their own safety. That's all I'm saying.

14 year olds don't sound like "the right people"

this should be changed for the instructors at the very least.

@timothyrolls: I'd say teaching them how to avoid situations where they would need a gun is probably better than giving them the extra confidence boost of having a gun and them feeling it's ok to get in said situations.

This has to be the absolute worst idea I've ever heard in an OT thread. 'Let's give a bunch of very hormonal, irresponsible 14 year olds guns, what could go wong?"

Give the good kids guns so they can shoot the bad kids with guns.

^ what he said.

Only thing stopping a bad kid with a gun is a good kid with a gun. /NRA

@lostrib:

you guys don't give young adults enough credit in my opinion. hang around with them sometime and they will genuinely surprise you how intelligent and thoughtful they are. Provide them guidance and training and you would have a generation with far less violence/victims of violence.

a 14 year old is not a young adult

yet it's these "young adults" that are shooting up schools. So how do you tell a shooter from a non-shooter? If everyone has guns it would be even harder to tell.

Start with lowering the drinking age you tyrants.

Of course. This world needs more kids with guns.

drinking is actively bad for you, having the proper gun training could potentially save your life.

Everyone should be given a knife after completing kindergarten, a taser after completing elementary school, a gun after middle school, and AK's after completing high school. But before that happens, there will be weapons and firearms training courses in a all schools.

I could see lowering the age for handguns to 18. But not lower than that.

Drinking can be actively good for you with the proper knowledge and responsibility. Guns could be actively bad for other people. Especially if the owner of it is some spoiled emotionally unstable stupid little kid.

That's what you Americans need,young children the chance to have firearms for themselves.As if there is not enough school shooting as there already is.Your society is falling to pieces,economy is sh*t,violence beyond violence is on every corner,government is corrupt,school shootings almost every week/month,etc......Americans can be so fvcking Stupid alot of the times.The only country in the civilized world that wants to arm their children.STUPID is to SMALL OF A MEANING.

I'll need time to think about this. In the meantime. How about you go to a gun range with a 9 year old and let her shoot an Uzi. Remember to stand real close to her, for instruction purposes of course.

I wouldn't give young teens a gun but I do understand that you need to defend yourself but if that were the case, would a retractable Baton be much better?

Yeah sure, give firearms to 14 year olds.. That doesn't sound terrible at all...

We should lower the age required to buy bulletproof vests.

Mandatory gun training in Kindergarten.

The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun, is a toddler with a gun

I see what you did there.

If you can buy rifles at 18, handguns should be allowed at the same age. I would never go lower than that, though. People don't always make the best decisions, especially young adults/teens. While it is true that kids could just steal a gun from their parents and do something stupid, it's better to have that hoop for them to jump through rather than making the weapons easily accessible via retail.

Just make it like pokemon; at age ten, you receive your first weapon and then go out into the world trying to collect em all and battle and trade with other kids.

Bulletproof vests should be marketed as a fashion symbol.

"Get a 24-carat gold necklace 20% off with the purchase of this a vest"

Up to age 12 no other purchases necessary. Combination purchases with other sale items will not qualify necklace or vest for discount. Copyright Kevlar. All rights reserved.

Say everything after the quoted sentence fast.

Exactly.

NO

Huh? What you on about, I can't even buy I gun and i'm just over 30. What we expecting here? Should I be armed, I got a bit of a confrotention in front of the Queens Head Pub the other day which ended in me buying the drunk bastards a round a few new drinking partners but should I have shot them instead?

How about lowing the age to purchase and consume alcohol?

EDIT: I assume TC is from the US...and likely a troll.

alcohol kills far more people than guns. who wants stupid teens in bars anyway?

Killzoned seems to know what he's talking about.

GamingGod if you want to talk about lowering the legal age to purchase alcohol feel free to create a new topic seeing as how this one is about gun purchasing. Also I have defended my position on this multiple times throughout the thread, and as I said above just because we have a difference of opinion does not mean I am trolling.

I feel like several people in gamespot off-topic have a hard time accepting the fact that people are diverse and may have differing even opposite opinions from one another. When this happens they call foul and hope that the topic gets locked.

Are you trolling??

Please don't make light of tragic accidents. Try to have a little respect for the dead.

We are creating bulletproof skin. I would definitely support people wearing that if it ever gets perfected.

source

like I said above we will never get people behind such a young age (and yes I get the sarcasm), but proper gun safety and even shooting used to be a thing in schools. It should be brought back.

what...? No

man when people around here disagree their reasons for disagreement are quite strong and well stated.