INDIANAPOLIS — Gun safety is the goal of a bill filed in the statehouse that would raise the legal age for you to buy a long gun from 18 to 21.
State Sen. Greg Taylor’s bill would also make it illegal to possess, buy, or sell a gun that is able to hold more than ten rounds of ammunition. Taylor told Tony Katz and the Morning News on 93 WIBC why he believes the bill makes sense.
“Ironically in the state of Indiana you can go buy an AR-15 at 18 years of age,” Taylor said. “But in order to purchase a handgun, you have to be 21.”
As someone who carries a handgun regularly, Taylor clarified that his bill will not restrict your right to carry or own a gun nor will it remove a gun from your possession. He added the proposed round-restriction is necessary to ensure safety.
Gun rights attorney Guy Relford is ardently against the bill saying it’s “flat out unconstitutional.”
“If you raise the age to buy a long gun, all of a sudden you have a whole class of people, 18, 19, 20-year-olds, who could lawfully purchase a firearm in the past now not being able to buy any firearm at all,” Relford said.
Taylor also touched on the definition of a “firearm” in his interview with Tony Katz.
“The bill talks about a long gun, not a firearm,” Taylor said. “That’s the word they use to summarize the bill. It’s a long gun. It’s already prohibited in some cases to carry a long gun. It is not restricting someone who has a handgun.”
“Apparently we have someone in the Senate who doesn’t bother to look up what the law actually says,” Relford retorts. “There is a statutory definition of ‘firearm’ and that’s a weapon the expels a projectile by means of an explosion. If it expels a projectile by means of an explosion it’s a firearm.”
Relford doesn’t expect the bill to make it out of committee discussions.
(PHOTO: Picture Alliance/Getty Images)
