A 16 year old can be licenced to drive a car which is a potentially deadly killing machine.
A 17 year old can join the US Military today, use firearms, fight and die for their country and if needed; kill their own countrymen if politicians deem some citizens are a threat.
An 18 year old can vote and determine who should run the country then they go back to watching TickTok 24/7.
A 17 year old cannot have a beer.
There is something wrong with all of that, today driving a car, voting and entering the military should all be the age that is required to legally buy a beer.
I ask genuinely - when exactly and where? Voting age was lowered in 1971 to 18, it used to be higher.
24 is 6 extra years of maturing. That will save a lot of lives (not just mass shootings, but gang violence and suicides). And 24 better reflects reality in terms of adulthood.
Not only that, but it's palatable politically. As long as it goes with voting age and other rights, then gun owners are more likely to go along with it. Make some exceptions that work for young hunters, and people won't feel left out.
If anything, it's likely to see pushback from the left because they want lots of people voting from a young age. But I don't think the overall electoral decisions will be any worse by making people wait 6 more years. The left will just adapt and move on (e.g. more focus on struggling families and less on cultural/identity issues).
We should just move the age of majority to 24 or so. Guns and voting would start there. Vices and contracts would be some sliding scale.