The AR-15 rifle police say Nikolas Cruz used to kill 17 people at his former high school on Wednesday was his legally. He bought it about a year ago, when he was 18, at which point Florida law allowed him to buy a long gun like the AR-15. He had to pass a background check, which he did, and, while the law also prohibits the sale of weapons to “any person of unsound mind,” Cruz’s already-known emotional issues weren’t flagged in the review process. He wanted a gun, he bought a gun, he used the gun.
There’s been some commentary after the massacre in Parkland about whether someone who is 18 should have been able to make that purchase. He’s too young to buy a handgun or a beer, but he’s old enough to buy a rapid-fire rifle that has been used in many of the most deadly mass shootings in recent history?
Well, yeah. And he’s not the only one. According to the Giffords Law Center’s review of state laws, Cruz was old enough to buy an AR-15 in 48 states and the District of Columbia. (The Giffords Law Center is a pro-gun-control organization named for former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords.) In 10 states, in fact, he was older than he legally needed to be: In nine of those states, people under 18 can buy long guns with their parents’ permission. In Vermont, the minimum age is 16.
If we extrapolate that idea outward, we come to a remarkable realization.
In 2015, 19.8 percent of 18 and 19 year olds in America were enrolled in high school. Nationally, there were about 8.5 million people in that age group that year. If we combine these three data points – how many states allow 18 and 19 year olds to buy AR-15s, what percent of people in that age group are in high school and how many people are in that age group by state – we can determine the number of high school students old enough to legally buy AR-15 rifles in the states in which they live.
