This may come as a surprise to some, but California is finally following Vermont in raising the gun purchasing age to 21. That the Golden State is moving forward with such an anti-Second Amendment law, of course, should surprise no one. The shocker is that Vermont beat them to it.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

As previously reported on Liberty Nation, Vermont Governor Phil Scott – a Republican who seems to have been confused by the letters R and D and chose the wrong one – signed into law three gun control bills. One of them raised the legal purchase age of rifles and shotguns to 21.

On Tuesday, May 29, the California Senate voted 23-10 in favor of their own bill to raise the gun buying age. The bill, SB1100, also limits the number of guns any one person can purchase to one per month. It isn’t law quite yet – but that it will succeed seems a foregone conclusion. This is California, after all, and the most surprising thing about this story is that the Golden State wasn’t the first in the Union to achieve this “common sense” reform.

If DC Won’t Act…

The bill’s progenitor, Senator Anthony Portantino (D-CA), later tweeted that if D.C. won’t act, California will.

Good news #SB1100 to raise gun purchase age to 21 & limit gun sales to 1 per month passed the #StateSenate – if DC won’t act CALIFORNIA will. @BradyCampaignLA @PasStarNews @BurbCouncilPTA @CaliforniaPTA @MyJLP @JohnChiangCA @Courier91711 @GlendaleNP

— Anthony Portantino (@Portantino) May 29, 2018

Vermont and California aren’t the only ones acting on this progressive incrementalism toward stripping away the right to keep and bear arms entirely. Retail giants Walmart, Kroger, L.L. Bean, and Dick’s Sporting Goods have all stopped selling “assault style” rifles and have raised their own gun purchase prerequisites so that would-be buyers must be at least 21. Dick’s even took it a step farther and began destroying the unsold AR-15s rather than returning them for a refund.

Ah, Freedom

Of course, the Second Amendment doesn’t actually stop companies from refusing to sell certain types of weapons. It’s not like a federal, state, or even municipal law that prevents you from buying or owning a gun so long as you live in a certain area. If Wal Mart won’t sell you an AR-15, or any other gun if you’re under 21, then just go to a different store. Indeed, it would behoove shoppers nationwide to refuse to give any of their hard-earned dollars to a store that treats them so.

And there are plenty of other businesses perfectly willing to capitalize on what will almost certainly end up being a mistake on the parts of these few retailers. Some even blatantly target those spurned customers with tongue-in-cheek advertisements. Cross Roads Pawn & Audio in Little River, South Carolina now sports the hilarious slogan “We sell AR-15’s because we’re not Dick’s.”

Incremental Abolition of Rights

But foolish business practices and humorous responses aside, any law that raises the gun purchasing age absolutely is an infringement on the right to keep and bear arms as envisioned by the Founders and enshrined in the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment. No mention was made by the Founders of a minimum purchase age.

The actions of California and Vermont, or any other government body pursuing such laws, belie any claim to serve or protect the people. The Declaration of Independence defines the sole purpose of government as protecting the rights of the people, which are defined as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These treacherous lawmakers are doing exactly the opposite; they’re stripping the liberty from all of their otherwise adult citizens from age 18 to 20. And make no mistake, that is just an incremental step towards the goal of completely disarming the citizenry.

The progressive left and their pet demagogues don’t want the general populace armed. They don’t want me to have a gun; they don’t want you to have one. And when it comes time to either reelect these politicians who care nothing for liberty or to give them the boot, there’s one question that needs to be asked first: Why?