Alexis Guilleux (in New York), edited by Solène Leroux with AFP 10:36 a.m., June 07, 2022, modified at 10:40 a.m., June 07, 2022

After the racist Buffalo shootings and the Uvalde massacre in Texas at a school, New York State took a series of measures on Monday to restrict access to firearms.

Favorable to his measures, the elected Republican Chris Jacobs, found himself under fire from critics and renounced to represent himself.

What is the minimum age to own an automatic rifle in the United States?

Congress is still struggling on the subject, but New York State has decided.

Minimum age at 21 to buy a semi-automatic shotgun, limitation of high-capacity magazines: after the racist massacre in Buffalo and the massacre in Uvalde in Texas at a school, the State of New York on Monday took a series of measures to restrict access to firearms.

From now on, the age limit applies in only seven of the 50 American states, because the subject is very divisive.

Republican and Democratic senators still have to negotiate this week and the road ahead promises to be long.

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"If you stray from the party line, you are destroyed"

Evidenced by the story of Chris Jacobs.

This elected representative from the Buffalo region had to give up running for a new mandate, because he is a Republican and has taken a stand for better gun control.

A position diametrically opposed to that of his party.

As a result, in one week, the elected Republican lost all his support one by one, both locally and within the party hierarchy.

His personal phone number was even leaked on the internet by pro-gun activists. 

Chris Jacobs renounces a new candidacy and draws up an unequivocal statement of American politics.

"If you stray from the party line, you are destroyed," he laments.

"This need for 100% loyalty is not a good thing for our democracy", he still assures.

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Fear of pro-weapons of an unraveling of the right to defend oneself

Elected from rural New York State, Chris Jacobs admits his constituents own guns.

But he defends the ban on assault rifles and especially the cessation of their sale to those under 21.

"These young people under 21 cannot buy beers or cigarettes," he recalls.

"I believe it is perfectly reasonable that the age limit, at least for these very lethal weapons, should also be 21."

The story of Chris Jacobs perfectly illustrates the mentality of the pro-gun electorate, according to which the slightest concession to the Democrats would in fact be the first step towards a total unraveling of the right to self-defense.

According to a recent poll, 44% of Republicans say mass shootings should be accepted as part of living in a free society.