Not old enough ?

The 1969 Representation of the People’s Act, which lowered the UK age of enfranchisement (voting) to 18. The UK became the first democracy to lower the voting age to 18 and most of the rest of the world followed.

The UK had conscription, compulsory military service, up to 1960. It was always a bone of contention that an eighteen-year-old could die for his country at 18, but he couldn't vote for his choice of political party until he was 21.

Not old enough? The slogan read, showing the headstone of a conscript killed in battle.
 
horseless carriage said:
The 1969 Representation of the People’s Act, which lowered the UK age of enfranchisement (voting) to 18. The UK became the first democracy to lower the voting age to 18 and most of the rest of the world followed.

The UK had conscription, compulsory military service, up to 1960. It was always a bone of contention that an eighteen-year-old could die for his country at 18, but he couldn't vote for his choice of political party until he was 21.

Not old enough? The slogan read, showing the headstone of a conscript killed in battle.
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..or in fact old enough to drink alcohol in a pub when the age was 21 at the time...
 
HoneyNut said:
I don't think soldiers are unsupervised untrained 19 yr olds with guns, in fact I think the military has to put quite a bit of effort into training them enough they don't accidentally shoot each other during practice.
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Some states require at least the gun safety course course to purchase a firearm. Some states offer free use of a firing range during the first so-many-weeks of ownership and/or a new-owner discount membership to a firing range. Some state police departments offer free firearms training to any gun owner, beginner and intermediate.

There's really no excuse to not get training. I'd like to see it required nationwide.
 
HoneyNut said:
I don't think soldiers are unsupervised untrained 19 yr olds with guns, in fact I think the military has to put quite a bit of effort into training them enough they don't accidentally shoot each other during practice.
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Uhh, there's no way they can do that. Shooters are all facing one direction during practice.

Maybe you mean during maneuvers?
 
We were just about done with boot on the Island. I think we had 3 days remaining. I just couldn’t take it anymore. On that morning, we had just finished our run when I walked up to the Sergeant and asked him “How do I get one of those hats?” WOW! I thought my Sergeant was going to have a heart attack. He went off on me like a .50 caliber machine gun. He ranted non stop for a good 5 minutes. I learned a valuable lesson that day.
 
oldman said:
We were just about done with boot on the Island. I think we had 3 days remaining. I just couldn’t take it anymore. On that morning, we had just finished our run when I walked up to the Sergeant and asked him “How do I get one of those hats?” WOW! I thought my Sergeant was going to have a heart attack. He went off on me like a .50 caliber machine gun. He ranted non stop for a good 5 minutes. I learned a valuable lesson that day.
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My son called me from boot camp (Navy) to tell me enlisting was the biggest mistake of his life. Before I could turn around he was saying it was the best decision he'd ever made. Grant is a pacifist, but he fell in love with the training, his comrades and officers, everything he learned and experienced, and the man he became because of it.
 
Murrmurr said:
Uhh, there's no way they can do that. Shooters are all facing one direction during practice.

Maybe you mean during maneuvers?
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Ha, I don't know the terminology at all, there was a time when I was young that I wanted to shoot an Uzi and the soldiers let me do it after boring me half to death trying (unsuccessfully) to make me learn the parts of the gun and how it works, and they also told me all the horror stories of guys getting killed in whatever it is (apparently 'maneuvers', tho they were not speaking English) and I mostly remember it as they described and gestured, which I think was about guys running in different directions and having to fire in opposite directions and sadly some guys running in the wrong direction, I think).

I had trouble just to remember to point the Uzi up when not firing. I wanted so much to spray bullets but they only let me fire one bullet at a time. Probably that was good judgement on their part, considering how belatedly I'd remember to point the gun upward. They also told me a story of a guy who couldn't stop firing and the sargent had to crawl to him to stay under the bullets to reach him to help.

Anyway, it left me with a strong impression that learning to be a soldier was pretty risky.
 
The drinking age in NY was 18, I owned a 12 gauge shotgun for hunting, I was on the rifle team in my Naval Reserve unit, but had to be 21 to vote. I do not believe it is better now.
 
horseless carriage said:
The 1969 Representation of the People’s Act, which lowered the UK age of enfranchisement (voting) to 18. The UK became the first democracy to lower the voting age to 18 and most of the rest of the world followed.

The UK had conscription, compulsory military service, up to 1960. It was always a bone of contention that an eighteen-year-old could die for his country at 18, but he couldn't vote for his choice of political party until he was 21.
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Same here. My brother was sent to Vietnam a few months before he was old enough to vote. I never asked his opinion on that, but it always bugged me.
 
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