Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake is working on a bill to raise the age limit for purchasing AR-15 semi-automatic rifles. KNAU’s Ryan Heinsius reports, it follows last week’s school shooting in Florida that left 17 students and faculty dead.
Currently, federal law allows anyone 18 and older to buy an AR-15-style rifle like the one allegedly used last week in the Stoneman Douglas High School massacre. But according to a tweet Wednesday by Senator Flake, he believes the minimum age for non-military buyers should be 21, the requirement for purchasing a handgun.
He’s collaborating on the bipartisan bill with California Democrat Diane Feinstein and hasn’t commented further on the proposal.
Flake himself experienced gun violence last summer when a man opened fire on Congressional Republicans during a baseball practice in Virginia. He was unhurt but assisted wounded Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise.
Meanwhile, President Trump has ordered the Justice Department to issue regulations on so-called “bump stocks,” which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire fully automatically.
