Over and over again, we see that gun control doesn’t work. When it fails, anti-gunners routinely lash out and demand still more gun control. They don’t seem to really understand the very nature of why their policies fail to produce results like they claim they would, so they double down and demand still more and more.
That’s what went through my head yesterday when I read about a proposed cell phone bill in Vermont. Yes, a cell phone bill.
What does a bill about cell phones have to do with guns? Plenty, it turns out.
The bill includes various arguments as to why cellphones should not be allowed to be possessed by individuals under the age of 21, such as how the devices are frequently used for bullying and threatening young people.
Text within the bill also noted how “the internet and social media, accessed primarily through cell phones, are used to radicalize and recruit terrorists, fascists, and other extremists.” linking their use in radicalizing and recruiting “terrorists, fascists, and other extremists.”
The bill reads, “In light of the dangerous and life-threatening consequences of cell phone use by young people, it is clear that persons under 21 years of age are 8 not developmentally mature enough to safely possess them, just as the General 9 Assembly has concluded that persons under 21 years of age are not mature enough to possess firearms, smoke cigarettes, or consume alcohol.”
So, let’s get this straight. Current laws against using a cell phone while driving aren’t enough, nor are the laws against terrorist acts, so we’re going to go after something else.
Sound familiar?
Nevermind that if you did take away cell phones from everyone under the age of 21, you’d just have them accessing the exact same content on laptops and tablets. Nevermind that plenty are going to ignore the law anyway. Further, nevermind that those phones are often purchased by their parents simply because it allows their kids to get hold of them in an emergency.
No, none of that matters.
You see, this bill is coming from the exact same place that gun control bills come from. It comes from an idea that the state has ultimate authority and that rights only exist when the government grants them.
That’s not how it’s supposed to work. Natural rights are the rights each person is born with. It’s not up to the state to decide how we exercise those rights, yet that’s what they do over and over again.
Make no mistake, either. This is a rights issue. Cell phones often enable people to exercise their First Amendment rights, much like how firearms enable us to exercise our Second Amendment rights.
At the end of the day, this is what too many lawmakers think their job is. They believe it’s their place to restrict our actions, often under the guise of “for your own good.” The problem is, I had a mother and father for that growing up, but when I became an adult, all that went out the window. I damn sure don’t need the government to do that.
But they will.
Sure, we focus on the guns, but the mindset that makes them think they have a say in how we exercise our Second Amendment rights extends into them believing they have a say on everything else.
