A deadly Smiths Station shooting has prompted a petition to change the legal age for firearm ownership in Alabama. 34-year-old Anthony Hodge was shot and killed outside his home by an acquaintance Jeremy Chandler Wiggins October 19th, 2025.
Petition · Change the legal age for firearm ownership – United States · Change.org
A relative of the family launched the petition to change the age to 25 to purchase a firearm because Hodge “left behind two beautiful babies. Something just has to change,” said Stevi Coulter. The issue according to the petition is gun violence committed by individuals under the age of 25. “These young individuals often do not grasp the irreversible consequences of pulling that trigger not only ending a life but altering theirs forever,” the petition reads.
Wiggins is 20 years old and it’s unclear how he obtained the firearm used in the fatal shooting. Coulter said Hodge wasn’t a violent person. “You can ask anybody that knew Anthony he wasn’t a violent person at all and he wouldn’t have started just beating on a young 20-year-old boy,” Coulter said.
