Anytime the penalty for breaking the law is worse than what harm the law seeks to protect you from, its time to rethink the law. I haven’t bothered to research it, but I would bet that most adult drinkers had their first drink when they were about 16 … or younger.
That said, I would hate to see a bunch of 16-yr-olds frequent my favorite watering hole.
Yep, and yet the ruling was 2 to 1 instead of 3-0. There are obviously brainless judges still seated on the bench.
That’s why they enlist 18-yr-olds in the military … their brains are not developed enough to fully grasp the survival instinct. 
It is still a State decision, but defying the Feds by lowering the smoking (and/or drinking) age comes with a financial penalty in the loss of formula distribution of Federal Funds.
It started with someone with a plan, coughing on a plane. 
Used to be 19 until they raised it. I’m fun with lowering it back down.
if you can vote, you can own a gun.
Ya the Federal Government blackmailed the States into raising it by restricting the Highway trust fund.
If an 18 year old can drive, vote, buy smokes and learn to handle a rifle in the U S Armed Forces, than he/she should be eligible for a carry conceal. As pointed out by another poster, it would also make sense to lower the drinking age to 18.
No.
…
I thought the minimum age to get a driver’s licence was 16 in the USA.
States issue driver’s licenses.
Yes. When you serve, you are issued somebody else’s rifle. It goes back to an armory when you don’t need it. And you never get live ammo unless you are in some type of live fire exercise with NCO’s and officers in charge. Most monkeys are more responsible with firearms than teenagers.
Wait. Are you proposing making “kids having kids” illegal or something? How on Earth would that work?
It is.
My state of residence, though, Massachusetts, a student must be a minimum of 15 years & 9 months to even learn to drive, so probably these teens are closer to 17 when they take their Operators License test & drive by themselves.
That’s my point. If you’re 18 & driving, particularly if in the service & learning to handle a rifle, why if passing a background check shouldn’t you be able to carry conceal?
Thanks for the info.
Yeah I’m not sure how this would work with the minimum age for marriage all over the place:
Would birth control become mandatory if unwed & under the marriage age? Or adoption if not marrying?
Some states teen pregnancy is at a higher percentage than others:
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/teen-pregnancy-rates-by-state
This idea doesn’t appear enforceable.
This, especially in rural areas.
Trying to applying the same laws and standards to the entire country is just dumb.
Not unless we did something like forced sterilization when caught as a punishment. But then we’d be more like China. Maybe that’s the goal?
Yes… Obviously a law wouldn’t stop it anyway. See the weekend shooting tallies from cities with lots of gun laws.
