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18 Year Olds Conceal and Carry

I used firearms from the time I was old enough to hold them up and was hunting on my own before puberty. I became a military policeman at age 19, and have carried a firearm every day since then. I can get fully behind 18 year old buying and carrying a gun if they are AD military or law enforcement. But in context, military and LE are intensely trained and supervised on the use of firearms when compared to the general public. There is no comparison between an 18 year old Marine and the 18 year old kid flipping burgers at MacDonald's.

But my unease about this blanket age of 18 is based upon my LE experience with 18-21 year-olds doing really stupid things out of emotional immaturity. Some are rock solid at 18, many are not. Florida raised the age to buy any gun to 21, and the CWFL age is and always has been 21. To some extent this is based upon the science that the pre frontal cortex of the brain, which relates to emotional maturity, is not fully developed at age 18. In fact it is not fully developed until about age 25. We can recall that many states lowered the drinking age to 18 in the 60's-70's, and the number of 18-21 killed in alcohol related car crashes spiked. Most of those states went back to a drinking age of 21 for that reason. I guess my perspective is, we have enough stupidity at age 21 and above, are we going to just add to it by having more immature kids running around carrying a pistol?
LoL I completely understand the concern.
My daughter on one hand, very mature and level headed and intelligent enough to know to only use it as an absolute last resort. On the other hand, her boyfriend... This kid shouldn't even be allowed to carry a pocket knife. He's book smart, but when it comes to common sense, dumb as a rock and has no business even being in the same room as a firearm.
Appreciate your insight.
 
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I was under the impression that anyone under the age of 21 was prohibited from handgun possession without "adult" supervision. Federal???
In Kansas, 18 year olds can open carry but can only conceal if on their property.
HB2058 effective July 1st, allows them to apply for conceal and carry permit with training and a background check.
It is getting a lot of mixed emotions in the state and that's why I wanted to bring it on here to see what you all think of it.
 
While it is true that many 18 year olds are not mature enough to make sound decisions , There are many more who are able to do so. We can pick any arbitrary age limit and find many who don't meet the requirements. With that said , I feel that if a person can vote and can be picked to possibly die for his/her country then they should have full access to their 2A.

Should they get training if they have non , yes. It should not be mandatory though.

The 2A " shall not be infringed!" .

I also live in Illinois and went through the 16 hr training to get my first Illinois carry license in 2014. Then I had to go through another 4 hr course to renew in early 2019. Here in Illinois we also have to pass a shooting test. 10 shots at 5 yards , 10 shots at 7 yards , and 10 shots at 10 yards. It is a pass/fail test at 70 % hits in the black of a B-27 target.

Before we got the FCCL passed here in Illinois I had a PA. carry license ( application sent through the mail and a little over a week later my license was sent to me ) , and I had a Utah license that I had to take a 4 hour course to get. No shooting required.
 
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While it is true that many 18 year olds are not mature enough to make sound decisions , There are many more who are able to do so. We can pick any arbitrary age limit and find many who don't meet the requirements. With that said , I feel that if a person can vote and can be picked to possibly die for his/her country then they should have full access to their 2A.

Should they get training if they have non , yes. It should not be mandatory though.

The 2A " shall not be infringed!" .
Getting back to my earlier statement, the schools should be teaching firearm safety. It should be a part of physical education just like health class . There shouldn't be all this fear and ignorance. Take away the mystery and it becomes what it always has been, a tool, nothing more. Just a thought.
 
My daughter is 29. We live in rural Missouri about 40 miles south of St. Louis. All through high school and presumably even now her school was closed for the beginning of deer season and students who drove to school having guns in racks in the back window of their pickups was not a problem.
 
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My daughter is 29. We live in rural Missouri about 40 miles south of St. Louis. All through high school and presumably even now her school was closed for the beginning of deer season and students who drove to school having guns in racks in the back window of their pickups was not a problem.
Whin I was in school '72 -'84 people with gun racks rarely locked their doors on their vehicle. Nothing was ever stolen. The good ol days are gone forever! Take the haters out of the political office and get back what has been lost!
 
Here, in the people's republic of Illinois, I finally applied for my right(privilege here) to carry. I had to sit through 16 hours of classroom training. So, I agree, 18 years old with proper training, hell, at least an introductory course. It would be better if firearm safety were taught in school , as in the past.
I agree. Elementary School's in Oregon used to have firearm safety. A couple police officers would go to the schools and teach kids the dangers and what to do if they found one. But that all disappeared when democrats took over.
 
For me, MATURITY is hard to judge based upon age alone. And I've seen lots of folks older than 21 display complete IMMATURITY. You can teach youngsters to shoot and give them, classes all day long. And some will become accurate shooters. But their lives leading up to the age of 18 can actually help them to determine when or when not to shoot, let alone display a weapon. I haven't a clue how you'd conclude whether an 18 yrs old possesses maturity or not. But if they are in the military service of our great nation, at least they've been exposed to some semblance of reality and deserve the trust that they will know when to act. So I'd say that there has to be some form of qualification for an 18 yrs to show he (or she) deserves the trust to be armed wherever he or she goes; like many of us OLDER FARTS who've been through the ringer, seen combat and even been shot at that has taught us how to survive, when and where to shoot or don't shoot and remain cool when the chips are down so we don't take out unintended targets.
 
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Whin I was in school '72 -'84 people with gun racks rarely locked their doors on their vehicle. Nothing was ever stolen. The good ol days are gone forever! Take the haters out of the political office and get back what has been lost!
I go back a little farther than you ('53-'65) but the same held true. Almost every truck in the high school parking lot had a gun rack in the rear window and during hunting season always had a gun of some sort hanging in it. Trucks were seldom locked and no one even took a second look.
 
Alabama allows 18 year olds to apply for a CCW, but Alabama permits only have reciprocity with most states if the individual is 21 or older.

That said, it really depends on the 18 year old. My youngest daughter is the only one of my 3 kids to express an interest in self defense, apply for and obtain her CCW, and then actually carry. She started carrying when she was 19, about 4 years ago, and I got her a Ruger LC380 that Christmas. Part of the reason she expressed an interest in it may be the fact that she is barely 5'2" and weighs around 110 pounds. When she started carrying, she was in college, and also did lots of babysitting/nanny type work, plus dog sitting, and found herself going into many places when no one else was around, or she would have kid with her in the backseat of her pickup truck. Now she is 23, married and has a 5 month old to protect. She still keeps that LC380 in a bedside safe, and pretty sure packs it in the diaper bag that has replaced the purse for now.
 
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