[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 26, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H1956-H1957]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      RAISING THE AGE TO PURCHASE SEMIAUTOMATIC CENTERFIRE RIFLES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Ivey) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Raise the Age 
Act.
  This bill would protect the public by raising the minimum age to 
purchase semiautomatic centerfire rifles to 21 years old. Currently, 
the buyer only needs to be 18 years old, even though the minimum age to 
purchase a handgun from a dealer with a Federal license is 21 years 
old.
  The Raise the Age Act would apply the 21-year-old minimum age 
standard to buyers of semiautomatic centerfire rifles just as it 
applies to buyers of handguns.
  Imagine the agony that Alexandria Rubio's parents felt last May when 
they learned that their 10-year-old daughter's life was cut short at 
Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
  On that horrific day, 21 beautiful spirits were stolen from us: 19 
precious young children and 2 beloved, dedicated teachers.
  The halls of the grade school were forever robbed of their innocence 
due to the gruesome actions committed by an 18-year-old who used a 
semiautomatic weapon that he purchased shortly after his 18th birthday.

  On May 14th, 2022, 53-year-old Andre Mackneil went to the Tops 
grocery store in Buffalo, New York, to purchase a birthday cake for his 
grandson. He never returned home for his grandson's birthday due to the 
heinous acts of an 18-year-old mass shooter with an assault weapon.
  That 18-year-old ended the lives of 10 innocent souls that day. Had a 
21-year-old age requirement been in place, that 18-year-old shooter 
would not have been able to legally purchase that firearm just a few 
months earlier and the tragedy and trauma that occurred that day might 
have been avoided.
  Some of the most horrific and heartbreaking mass shootings in our 
history were committed by 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds using assault 
weapons, including the massacres at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 
Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012; at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School 
in Parkland, Florida, in 2018; and at Columbine High School in Colorado 
in 1999.
  According to CNN, in November of 2022, up to that point, at least 
3,179 people had been shot in mass shootings, resulting in 637 deaths 
and more than 2,500 people wounded. Already in 2023, there have been 
more than 170 mass shootings.
  Some of my colleagues insist on choosing the Second Amendment over 
second graders. They insist on banning books in schools instead of 
banning assault weapons in schools. They talk about the weaponization 
of our government, but they are silent when actual weapons are used to 
lay waste to our schoolchildren.

                              {time}  1030

  Instead of supporting commonsense reforms to address our country's 
gun epidemic, some Members offer bills that would make the problem even 
worse, such as eliminating the ATF, the lead Federal law enforcement 
agency that fights against gun violence.
  Time and time again, our communities are devastated by these mass 
killings. Some politicians send thoughts and prayers, but we should all

[[Page H1957]]

remember the wisdom in Paul's letter to James: ``Faith without works is 
dead.'' This bill alone won't fix the problem of gun violence, but we 
know that inaction will not stop the mass killings. The time for action 
is long overdue.
  That is why this bill is supported by many gun violence prevention 
organizations, including the Giffords Law Center, which observes its 
10th anniversary today, March for Our Lives, Newtown Action Alliance, 
Community Justice Action Fund, and several others. Some major retail 
chains like Walmart have even voluntarily raised the age from 18 to 21 
to buy a firearm at their stores.
  Raising the age to 21 also withstood judicial scrutiny recently. The 
11th Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a similar law on the 21-
year-old age requirement in Florida that was enacted shortly after the 
2018 massacres in Parkland, Florida.
  The Court determined that the act's restrictions on the sale of 
firearms to 18- to 20-year-olds ``is consistent with the Nation's 
historical tradition of firearm regulation.''
  Raising the age to 21 to purchase these kinds of firearms is 
reasonable and a crucial step, and I encourage all of my colleagues to 
support this vital legislation.

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