While seven states currently have a ban on the sale of semi-automatic rifles to anyone under 21, and state lawmakers in New Jersey, Texas and Utah have proposed similar legislation, New Jersey is the only state to appears likely to enact a law in the near future and laws currently in affect appear vulnerable to court challenges as a majority of states continue to resist the change outright, reports Pew Stateline. A U.S. appeals court in California most recently struck down that state’s blanket ban on the sale of semi-automatic rifles to adults under 21, while Democrats in New Jersey remain cautious about their own bill’s chances.
Opponents such as Joseph Greenlee, director of constitutional studies at the Firearms Policy Coalition, which led the lawsuit against the California law, said age requirements are discriminatory, arguing that it defies logic to allow 18-year-olds to vote and serve in the military but not allow them to own a gun so they can protect their families. Gun ownership activists are confident age restrictions will continue to fail in the court system. While 4 percent of the U.S. population is between 18 and 20, that age group makes up 17 percent of homicide offenders.