The Delaware House passed legislation raising the minimum age to purchase most guns to 21.
A person already needed to be 21 to buy a handgun. Under the legislation sponsored by House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, that would apply to other guns that can now be purchased at 18.
There are exceptions. The minimum age to buy shotguns would remain 18. The bill also exempts 18-year-old members of the Armed Forces, law enforcement and those with conceal carry permits.
Schwartzkopf adds Delawareans under age 21 who already have these weapons can still use them. They just can’t buy more.
“We’re not trying to mess with anybody who’s under the supervision of their parents, we’re not trying to mess with anybody who gets a gun from a family member as long as the parents know about it," he said. "We’re just trying to stop that person who gets up on the wrong side of the moon one day and just basically says ‘I want to go hurt somebody.’ And they don’t have access to weapons already, they will not be able to walk into a store and get one.”
Schwartzkopf said the legislation is aimed at preventing a school shooting like the one last month in Parkland, Florida, where a 19-year-old gunman is charged with using a semi-automatic rifle to kill 17 people.
A 17-year-old student in Maryland Tuesday shot two students with a handgun before a school resource officer killed him.
