The bloodbath in Uvalde has reignited a debate in regards to the minimum age for buying an assault rifle in the U.S. and Texas.
The shooter who killed 19 youngsters and two academics in Uvalde was ready to legally acquire two assault rifles together with greater than 1,500 rounds of ammunition simply days after turning 18, the minimum age beneath federal and state law for shopping for a rifle. (Texans have to be 21 or older to purchase a handgun.)
Since the May 24 tragedy at Robb Elementary School, the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus and a few Republicans urged Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to name lawmakers for a particular session.
(*18*)Ad
One of the proposed options? Raise the minimum age to buy assault rifles to 21, the Democrats mentioned in a letter on Saturday.
Fort Worth’s Mayor, a Republican, mentioned she supported elevating the age final week.
But Republican Governor Greg Abbott has just lately defended the present age restrict, saying that “ever since Texas has been a state, an 18-year-old has been able to buy a long gun.” (When Texas turned a state in 1845, weapons just like the Henry 1860 Rifle and rifle-muskets have been being manufactured.)
(*18*)Ad
Instead, Abbott positioned the blame on psychological well being points (regardless of slashing $211 million in funding for the state company overseeing psychological well being) and doubled down on preserving Texas’ porous gun legal guidelines in place.
(*2*) he mentioned Friday.
But there may be latest precedent for the state of Texas’ potential to raise the age restrict on sure issues in the title of public well being.
In truth, Abbott did that just some years ago.
In 2019, the governor signed a invoice that raised the authorized smoking age from 18 to 21 into law.
(*18*)Ad
SB 21, launched by Sen. Joan Huffman, a Republican from Houston, states that Texans have to be 21 to purchase, possess or use tobacco merchandise, together with e-cigarettes and different vaporizing units. The law went into impact that Sept. 1.
Huffman mentioned the hassle was to preserve the merchandise “out of Texas public schools by creating more social distance between younger high school students and of-age purchasers, thereby reducing early addiction to nicotine and tobacco.”
The law doesn’t apply to army members between 18 and 20 years previous.
Since then, the usage of tobacco by teenagers decreased from 21.8% in 2019 to 19.1% in 2021, in accordance to the CDC and the American Lung Association.
(*18*)Ad
Since President Joe Biden visited Uvalde, he mentioned he does see a “rational” response to insurance policies going ahead and expressed some optimism that there could also be some bipartisan assist to tighten restrictions on the form of high-powered weapons utilized by the gunman.
“The Second Amendment was never absolute,” Biden mentioned. “You couldn’t buy a cannon when the Second Amendment was passed. You couldn’t go out and buy a lot of weapons.”
Further north, Canada acted on gun management inside every week of the Uvalde capturing.
On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s authorities launched laws that will put a freeze on importing, shopping for or promoting handguns.
“We are capping the number of handguns in this country,” Trudeau mentioned.
Read extra:
Copyright 2022 by KSAT – All rights reserved.