POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Best intentions make the worst policy
My September column for the Gazettes/Colorado Politics regarding raising the firearm ownership age to 21 across the board.
Below is a preview of my September column for the Colorado Springs Gazette/Denver Gazette/Colorado Politics. If you’d like to read the full piece, click here. If you’d like to read the “Point” to my “Counterpoint,” please read Lisa LaBriola’s piece here.
The best of intentions often precede the drafting of the worst policies. Senate Bill 23-169 is no deviation from that rule. The desire to end gun violence — especially when it victimizes our children — is a universal cause. The unjustified ending of life is not only the gravest violation of liberty but violates our shared morality as a nation.
Though raising the age to own a firearm to 21 seems to check the boxes on paper, it falls short in both effectiveness and principle.
On effectiveness, the results are inconclusive.
The Rand Corporation’s analysis of the handgun age minimum couldn’t draw a conclusion on whether the policy prevents mass shootings or violent crime, though it found it may reduce suicides.
FBI data isn’t the most comprehensive, but it’s the best we’ve got. According to their latest numbers (2020), 59% of firearm murders were committed with a handgun, where the ownership age is already set at 21, compared to just 3% for rifles and 1% for shotguns (a whopping 36% is unknown). Raising the age for rifles and shotguns seems to simply be boiling the frog one degree at a time on gun rights, as handgun murders are still leading the pack decades after the federal government banned the sale to those aged 18 to 21…
For the month of September, I’m offering 50% off my Substack subscription. C’mon, just $2.50 to help me keep writing entertaining (and hopefully insightful) things for you! Thanks for considering.