President Donald Trump has spoken out recently about wanting to raise the age for purchasing a semiautomatic gun from 18 to 21, despite the NRA’s disapproval of this legislation. Florida Governor Rick Scott has also vastly spoken out on this topic and agrees with raising the age.

According to The Hill, it is illegal to sell or purchase a handgun for those younger than 21; however, rifles and other weapons listed as long guns can be sold to anyone 18 and older.

According to the New York Times, numerous mass shootings recently have been committed using the AR-15, a type of semiautomatic rifle. These shootings include those in San Bernardino, Las Vegas, and most recently, Parkland, Florida. Despite this, only one of those shooters were under 21. Furthermore, according to Vox, only two of the past 156 mass shootings from 2009 to 2016 were committed by those “younger than 21, using assault weapons.”

According to CNN, relating to raising the age on guns, President Donald Trump recently said, “Perhaps we’ll do something on age because it doesn’t seem to make sense that you have to wait until you are 21 years old to get a pistol, but to get a gun like this maniac used in the school, you get that at 18, doesn’t make sense.”

Florida Governor Rick Scott agrees, and mentioned that we have to balance “our individual rights with our obvious need for public safety.”

The National Rifle Association (NRA), however, disagrees with this action and has spoken out against it. According to the Washington Post, they made a statement which explained:

“Legislative proposals that prevent law-abiding adults aged 18-20 years old from acquiring rifles and shotguns effectively prohibits them for purchasing any firearm, thus depriving them of their constitutional right to self-protection.”

Senior Nancy Anabaraonye, a member of ERHS’s Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), says she believes that “we should raise the age to buy semi-automatic weapons.” She also explained that “Generally, the older people get, the more mature they are, and the less likely they are to make careless decisions.” Furthermore, “increasing the age limit will hopefully make gun sellers more proactive in checking people’s I.D.’s and conducting background checks.”

Senior Sudeep Ahuja agreed, saying that “it will make a difference in respect to the responsibility. An 18 year-old may make more impulsive decisions compared to an official adult.” He also believes that “politicians are not exerting much attention on gun control. This is primarily due to the impact of the second amendment and the right to bear arms.”

This discussion comes after 19-year old Nikolas Cruz bought an AR-15 legally, which is a semi-automatic weapon.