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 New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. Iran's supreme leader makes first public comments since ceasefire. Man accused of killing his daughters might be dead. Her blood isn't compatible with anyone else's. Report an error