Melissa, I agree with the point you're making. It is ridiculous that youth can have the power to end a life before they get the legal right to drink.
I have never agreed for citizens to have the right to bear arms. I believe that only those in authoritative positions, such as the police, should have this right to defend themselves. Police are provided with the special training to fire a gun, and most individuals are unable to maintain the composure and aim when they are firing under pressure. The reason that Americans feel the need to own guns is because everyone around them owns one, so a group of teenagers breaking into your home will most likely possess at least one firearm among them. However, I do not think that anyone has the right to kill another person at any age, unless it is in the instance of self-defence. In any given situation, people fire their guns impulsively and do not consider the consequences, which can be said even more so for young people.
That being said, regardless of what the legal drinking age is, kids under the age of 21 will still have access to alcohol. Although there is the possibility of death with underage drinking (such as drinking and driving) the fatalities from gun usage are much higher. To answer your question, I feel that guns are not used rationally by citizens at any age. Individuals are attempting to take the law into their own hands, and no one should be able to yield this power. With respect to the law allowing for the use of guns before alcohol, I think this is extremely absurd, but kids would be able to get their hands on both regardless of age. There have been many cases in the past few years where children ( as young as three) get access to their parents' guns and accidentally shoot themselves or their siblings. This is such an unnecessary tragedy, and illustrates that it is not necessarily age that can cause damage with gun use, but just the accessibility of guns.
This can be related to the age of getting a license in Canada. One can get their G1 and begin driving at the age of sixteen, and the instances of car accidents can cause fatalities as well. The issue with young people being able to access these privileges at such a young age is not a fault of their own, but rather the government. In comparing this to alcohol consumption in the States, it can be questioned as to whether young people are getting these legal rights too early, or if society as a whole (i.e. parents) are not regulating it properly.
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