Many people have noted a common thread between the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas: In both cases, the attackers were 18 years old and bought AR-style, semi-automatic rifles legally.
The perpetrators in two other mass shootings in the past four years also were younger than 21 when they purchased the semi-automatic rifles they used in their attacks. In February 2018, a 19-year-old former student killed 17 people and injured 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. And in April 2021, a 19-year-old shooter killed eight people and injured seven at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis.
Under federal law, you must be 21 to buy a handgun from a licensed dealer. But to purchase long guns such as shotguns, rifles and semi-automatic rifles, the federal minimum age is 18.
