AP Photo/Jim Mone

If you’re a political party who didn’t get the gains you expected during the midterm elections, what can you do?

Well, you could probably stop pushing a radical agenda and recognize that most Americans aren’t all that interested in embracing socialism. Or, you could do what some Democrats seem to be doing and find ways to grow the voter base in demographics you believe are sympathetic to your policies.

Normally, Democrats try to pretend that they’re doing that for noble reasons, but a couple of legislators haven’t been as circumspect. You see, they pretty much admit they want to lower the voting age to 16 because student activists are so anti-gun.

H.R. 1, a massive voting rights/election security/campaign finance/ethics bill now making its way through the House of Representatives, would make “significant changes to the operation of federal elections by states,” according to a summary produced by the Congressional Budget Office.

The bill does not allow 16-year-olds to vote, but Democrats are offering amendments that would do just that.

Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) introduced their amendments Tuesday night before the House Rules Committee. Both lawmakers pointed to the activism of young gun control advocates as one of the reasons for lowering the voting age:

“I am here tonight…because across this nation, young people are leading the way, which has been the case for every social movement throughout our history,” Rep. Pressley told the Rules Committee:

“They are organizing and mobilizing and calling us to action, making plain the high stakes the next generation faces — from gun violence, to climate change, to the future of work, to the solvency of Social Security.”

Pressley pointed to one of her young constituents who “has been at the forefront of the March for Our Lives Movement to stem the tide of gun violence.”

Pressley isn’t the only one who seems to want 16-year-olds to vote because of the student-led activism.

However, I can’t help but wonder how these lawmakers would feel if it turned out that most in the 16- to 18-year-old age bracket opposed abortion or illegal immigration.

The truth is, people in this age category are typically liberal, but why wouldn’t they be. They’re used to someone else paying for everything anyway. Some may have jobs, but that’s spending money for most of them, rather than an essential. That can give one a very different perspective than someone who has to earn their way.

But Democrats want to capitalize on this, and they’re surprisingly transparent about it.

Especially since this falls on the heels of the Parkland kids’ ascendency to national prominence, these lawmakers want to stack the deck with anti-gun voters in a blatant attempt to skew the electorate. They’re not hiding it, either. Why? Because they don’t care what you think about it. Elections have consequences, and part of this is making gun owners take it good and hard without ever bothering to ask for consent.

That’s only wrong when you don’t vote the right way in their minds.

But, if you’re someone who just learned how to drive, can’t enlist in the military, and can’t make any legal decisions without mom and dad, don’t worry. Some want you to help choose the direction of our entire nation.