President Joe Biden called for American adults ages 18–20 to be barred from buying modern sporting rifles, despite a previous federal ruling.
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Biden specifically said he would raise the age on “assault weapons,” but there is no such thing as an “assault weapon.” Biden’s nominee for ATF director couldn’t even
define the term when Sen. Tom Cotton challenged him to do so.
So assuming Biden meant assault rifles – more correctly called modern sporting rifles – the key to this constitutional question is found in 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(1) and (c)(1). Those provisions of a federal law say that, although an 18-year-old can buy a long gun (rifle or shotgun) from anyone, an adult must be at least 21 to buy a handgun (pistol or revolver) from a FFL (a federal firearm license holder) – in other words, a gun store. A citizen can buy a handgun from another source starting at age 18, but an American must be 21 to buy a handgun from a federally regulated retail outlet.
This does not mean that Biden cannot seek to make the purchase age 21. All it means is that because the Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms at age 18, any change Biden and his Democrat Party would like to enact regarding the purchase age would likely need to be done through a constitutional amendment. The White House has said nothing to suggest Biden is willing to take on that challenge.