Kinzinger: Raising minimum age for buying a gun a "no-brainer"
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Raising the minimum age for purchasing a gun to 21 would be a "no-brainer" way to address mass shootings, given the young ages of many perpetrators, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.
Why it matters: The recent mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo have sparked renewed discussions of potential gun control legislation, with a bipartisan group of senators convening to discuss potential measures.
- Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told the same program earlier Sunday that while the group's solutions likely won't be as far-reaching as an assault weapons ban or universal background checks, they are working toward a package that would have a "significant downward pressure on gun violence."
What they're saying: "I think that raising the age of gun purchase to 21 is a no brainer. If you look at the Parkland shooting, you look at Buffalo, you look at this shooting, these are people under the age of 21," Kinzinger said.
- "We know that the human brain develops and matures a lot between the age of 18 and 21. We just raised, without really so much as a blink, the age of purchasing cigarettes federally to 21. I think we need to get there eventually."
Kinzinger described himself as a "strong defender of the Second Amendment" and said he still owns his own AR-15, but said he'd gotten "sick of seeing the mass shootings."
- "One of the things I believe — that for some reason is a very rare thing — is that as a person who appreciates and believes in the Second Amendment, we have to be the ones putting forward reasonable solutions to gun violence."
Go deeper: 5 reasons this could be the time Congress finally acts on gun control
