US | drinking age Hey, GOP, It's Time to Lower the Drinking Age If 18-year-olds can fight, they should be able to drink By Kevin Spak Posted Apr 13, 2011 12:49 PM CDT Copied A US Army private drinks one of two allotted beers at a dining facility while soldiers gather to watch the Super Bowl XLIII at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Feb. 2, 2009. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) Alaska lawmaker Bob Lynn wants to lower the drinking age to 18 for active duty soldiers. “If you get shot at, you can have a shot,” he reasons. It's time to bring down our absurd drinking age as mandated in the 1984 Federal Uniform Drinking Act, argues Glenn Harlan Reynolds in the Wall Street Journal. “This is a battle that Republicans—and fair-minded Democrats—in Congress should join." “Republicans are supposed to stand for limited government, freedom and federalism,” Reynolds argues, “but it was under a Republican administration that states were forced to raise their age limits.” His hope: Maybe today’s Tea Party-infused conservatives have the courage to take on the issue. “If arguments of fairness and principle aren’t enough, perhaps one based on politics will do the trick: This will get votes.” Suddenly, Democrats won't be able to win the youth vote by "portraying Republicans as fuddy-duddies who want to hold young people down." Read These Next Trump "never heard" that "shylocks" is offensive. Extremely rare bat-borne virus claims a human life. Kyiv was subjected to 7 hours of 'terror.' Actor Michael Madsen is dead at 67. Report an error