Source: Town Hall
by John R Lott, Jr.
“Gun control advocates have condemned the Justice Department’s decision to stop criminally enforcing the nearly 60-year-old 1968 federal ban on licensed dealers selling handguns to law-abiding 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds. They say it will cause the loss of life. ‘That’s because young Americans are disproportionately likely to commit gun violence,’ claims the GIFFORDS Center’s Executive Director Emma Brown. It is true that young people commit crime at relatively high rates, but they are also more likely to be victims of crime. A 20-year-old woman facing a stalker needs protection as much as a 21-year-old woman does. Young adults also face substantial risks of becoming victims: Reported rapes are 32 percent more likely for ages 18 to 20 than for people ages 21 to 23, and the younger group’s homicide rate is 7 percent higher.” (09/30/26)