After the Parkland School shooting, there has been a cry of raising the age of gun ownership to 21. This was due to the fact that the shooter, Nicholas Cruz, was 19 years old and able to own and purchase rifles and shotguns. Nicholas Cruz is an outlier in the age range of mass shooters, a real rarity when compared to similar tragedies. His age places him outside of the average mass shooter. However, the anti-gun groups rarely let facts get in the way of their feelings.

The cry to raise the age to 21 has been heard by both politicians and corporations. We saw Wal-Mart, Dicks, and Kroger all raise the age to buy rifles and shotguns to 21 through corporate policy. In states like mine turncoat politicians like Rick Scott signed a bill into law that raises the age to purchase a long gun to 21. The law now mimics the same law required to purchase a handgun.

This puts 18, 19, and 20 year old's out in the cold when it comes to gun ownership. From the outside it may not seem like this is a big deal. That's only a small group of shooters, right? Who really cares? That's the kind of mindset that's allowed the creeping instrumentalism of the gun grabbing mentality to flourish. The anti-gun crowd isn't fighting the big battles and winning, they are going to a death by a thousand cuts approach.

If we give them an inch they'll take another, and another, and eventually, inch by inch they'll have a mile.

Now that's not the only reason to resist this legislation and these policies. The real reason to resist is the fact the law makes zero sense. Rifles and long guns, in general, aren't commonly used in crimes. When a rifle or shotgun is used in a crime it is an anomaly.

Raising the age to 21 will effectively and statistically do nothing. Unfortunately to the uneducated American and the anti-gunner doing anything, regardless of its effectiveness is at least something. Instead of focusing on real change and striving to find a real solution we are left with ineffective gun control solutions.

Raising the Age to 21 is ridiculous, let's look at the things someone under 21 can do to kill themselves.

Get Fat (Heart disease) - 610,000 deaths per year no minimum age requirement.

Use Tobacco (18 and up) - 480,000 deaths per year.

Texting and Driving (16 and up) - 3,477 deaths per year.

Death by Rifles - 374 deaths per year.

Deaths by Shotgun - 262 per year.

The numbers and the solutions simply don't add up. An 18-year-old can no longer own a rifle, but can still vote, join the military, engage in a protest, get married, get divorced, have a job, and more. Yet we can't trust an 18-year-old with a gun to defend themselves?

When I was 19 I was toting around a belt fed weapon, dodging bombs in the road, and getting in firefights with the Taliban. The United States is going to say, "Yeah that's okay," but if 19-year-old me wanted to buy a gun I'd get a resounding, "Nah, you're not old enough."

That's a garbage answer. Stop focusing on nonsensical solutions and nut up Republicans or you'll see the same stay at home results the Democrats did in 2016.