Fun Stuff > CHATTER
Get off my lawn!
Nodaisho:
Well, I have heard that before then the brain is still developing, and the alcohol can harm it, but I haven't seen the studies that said that, and if any actually did, I would not be in the least bit surprised to see that they were done in the U.S. and had some government sponsorship.
Spluff:
It's not like anybody actually ends up waiting for the legal age anyway, be it 18 or 21.
Nodaisho:
Some people do, but those are the ones that wouldn't be problematic in the first place.
I honestly do not think that the drinking age is effective in the least, it is not well enough enforced to intimidate people into obeying it, which is how a law does its work, fear.
Switchblade:
--- Quote from: ephemere on 12 Mar 2008, 18:41 ---
--- Quote from: Patrick on 12 Mar 2008, 15:22 ---If you make laws ridiculous, somebody's going to break them.
--- End quote ---
but... they're not ridiculous because literally every single person on earth is capable of aging.
i just don't see what makes a drinking age of 21 so unfair.
--- End quote ---
It's not the drinking age at 21 that weirds me out, personally, so much as all the other legality ages relative to it. Specifically, the gun laws.
To me, it's purest industrial-grade Madness Oil that any country is willing to let it's citizens legally buy lethal weaponry before they can engage in such a comparatively benign action as drinking.
The driving at 16 thing I can understand - it's a big country. But I'm consistently bemused by the fact that, Quote: "An individual 18 years of age or older may purchase a rifle or shotgun from a federally licensed dealer in any state."
I've heard the arguments in favour of this arrangement - that somebody who's had three years to get used to proper, safe handling of a firearm is less likely to do something stupid with it when they get drunk for the first time. But, the same argument works the other way round - somebody who's used to drinking and has built up a degree of experience and immunity will be more able to handle the alcohol, and is therefore less likely to do something stupid when he finally gets his hands on a gun.
Patrick:
Exactly. You have time to learn exactly how idiotic alcohol can make you, because with alcohol there's a world of possibilities as to what kind of ridiculous stupid shit you can get up to.
With guns, however, I can think of only 4 possibilities as to what kind of stupid shit you can get up to:
1. You hurt yourself
2. You maim yourself
3. You kill yourself
4. Any of the above, but applied to somebody else
Those are things that you don't really want to learn about by example, I am pretty sure! Starting off by learning how to handle guns and THEN throwing alcohol into the mix is just a recipe for disaster. Your judgement is fucked up, your inhibitions are fucked up, your motor skills are fucked up, and either of those things behind a trigger would make me crap myself. Better to learn how alcohol affects you BEFORE you learn how to handle a gun.
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