CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Today, United States Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has introduced legislation to reinstate the right of adults between the ages of 18 and 20 to purchase a handgun from a federally licensed dealer.
The Second Amendment Mandates Equality (SAME) Act of 2021, would repeal a law that currently prevents adults under 21 from buying a handgun.
Lummis expressed how the laws currently in place are an infringement of American’s Second Amendment rights.
“The Second Amendment is a constitutional right, and does not treat 18-year-olds as second-class adults,” Senator Lummis said. In keeping with the Supreme Court’s Heller decision, the SAME Act would overturn our current restrictive anti-handgun statute and ensure equal treatment under law for adults under 21,” said Senator Lummis.
“Ultimately, if we trust 18-year-olds enough to defend our country and to choose our elected officials, we should trust them enough to purchase a handgun.”
The bill is co-sponsored by several Senators Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Steve Daines (R-MT), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Braun (R-IN), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Jim Risch (R-ID), and by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The SAME Act of 2021, is being introduced amid President Joe Biden and democratic party leaders’ efforts to enact stricter gun control laws.
While President Biden does not plan to restrict guns entirely, he is interested in conducting more in-depth background checks and taking steps to develop firm regulations surrounding the purchase of firearms. According to the White House website, this is in an effort to reduce mass shootings across the country. In April 2021 alone, forty mass shootings have occurred in the United States.
