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SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Gary Herbert said he would consider supporting the movement to raise the minimum age requirement for assault rifles following a shooting at a high school in Florida that left 17 people dead earlier this month.
Herbert made the comments in an interview on the Politico podcast “Off Message” Friday, three days before doubling down many of his talking points about guns at the National Governors Association’s annual meeting in Washington Monday.
“Each state is going to have to find their own way based on their own culture, based on their own politics, based on their own demographics and we’ll learn from each other,” Herbert said Monday, during the meeting.
On Friday, in his conversation with “Off Message” host Edward-Isaac Dovere, Herbert pointed to age restrictions for alcohol and state proposals to raise the tobacco-purchasing age to 21 as examples of age restrictions already in use in other areas.
The current federal minimum age to purchase a long gun, such as a rifle, from a licensed dealer is 18, while a person must be 21 to purchase a handgun from a licensed dealer, according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“Maybe there’s something that says wisdom comes along and common sense enhances as you get older,” he said during the "Off Message" show. “We have training that’s required.”
President Donald Trump backed the idea to increase the minimum age for purchasing assault rifles last week, despite National Rifle Association officials saying they would not support any proposal to increase the minimum age.
Herbert added he also would support legislation limiting the size of magazine clips in guns during a wide-ranging conversation with the show’s host.
"I don’t know if there’s any reason to have anything more than a typical seven- or nine-shot magazine,” Herbert said. “I don’t have a problem with restricting magazines. I think once you get past the typical size you have when you go out hunting, you're probably having excess baggage you don’t need.”
Herbert also pointed out that each of the recent shootings, referencing such shootings as the one in Parkland, Florida, another at a concert in Las Vegas and another at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, have been different.
As such, he said a solution to the rash of mass shootings in the United States isn’t simple. He blamed violent video games for desensitizing youth, supported measures to tighten security in schools, including teachers who want to carry a gun with a concealed permit, and also stronger background checks on felons and persons with mental disabilities.
It’s an issue that goes beyond party lines, Herbert said.
“The problem is we end up making this into some kind of partisan issue,” he said. "I think it should be based on common sense and good policy. I think Republicans and Democrats alike can all have good common sense. What is a process that works?”
Guns remained a strong discussion point at the National Governors Association’s annual meeting in Washington that took place Monday. In speaking with the governors, Trump echoed Herbert’s sentiments about states coming up with solutions to gun violence, especially in schools. He said the federal government would be there to assist states in coming up with solutions.
“We’re there to help and we’ll help monetarily, which is very important because a lot of the school budgets, especially, they don’t have the money,” he said. “Where are they going to get the money to put 100 guards into the school in Parkland? I mean it’s really tough. It’s a tough situation.”
