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Sen. Ron Johnson thought the drinking age was 18

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UPDATE: Sen. Ron Johnson told TODAY'S TMJ4 he has no plans to lower the drinking age, and he was rather going, "...back to 50 years when we went through the same thing during the Vietnam War. If you can draft somebody at 18 they should have a beer. "

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- After initially thinking the drinking age was still 18, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin, said he would support lowering it from age 21.

The 62-year-old Republican made the comments Thursday on "The Devil's Advocates" radio show. He was initially explaining his opposition to raising the age to buy a gun from 18 to 21.

He says 18-year-olds "ought to be able to vote, they ought to be able to have a beer and they ought to be able to buy a gun to hunt with."

When asked if he was advocating lowering the drinking age to 18, Johnson said, "Can't they do that now? What is the age nowadays?"

When told it was 21 Johnson said, "Yikes. That's a battle we fought when I was young."

He then said he'd support lowering the drinking age to 18.