An Iowa legislator shares his stance regarding the minimum age that a citizen is allowed to possess a firearm.

House File 924 is under consideration where it would drop the minimum age to carry and own a handgun from 21 to 18 years old. The bill recently passed the House with a 79-18 vote. House District 28 Representative David Young tells Raccoon Valley Radio that a person is designated as an adult when they turn 18, and want to give them proper rights that a minor wouldn’t have. He sheds some background as to how this bill came about.

“Up in Minnesota, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, they just considered a case striking down certain age requirements to have a handgun, and so a significant number of states already allow a person 18 and up to own handguns.”

Young mentions that Iowa is in the Eighth Circuit Court as well, and this move would ensure that if a similar case occurred in Iowa that a potential law would be set to protect a citizen’s second amendment rights as an 18 year old. He reassures Iowans that background checks would be done before an 18-year-old purchased an assault weapon. The bill is in the Senate for consideration.