The mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., has opened up a lot of arguments about age: in short, most on the gun control side are eager to raise the age to own a firearm while at the same time lowering the voting age so these newly minted high school gun control activists can have their say at the ballot box.
Bloomberg View columnist Jonathan Bernstein last week wrote that he’d favor lowering the voting age to 13 or 14, calling voting “the training wheels of political participation.” And if kids who are only 16 can organize marches and hold sit-ins outside legislators’ offices, why not?
It's simple: Let teenagers vote https://t.co/GZnBi34iU9 via @BV pic.twitter.com/mGQhXEPcbu
— Bloomberg (@business) February 24, 2018
It is that simple, though?
https://twitter.com/seanagnew/status/968107836646526977
"It's simple: Let suggestible people vote at just the point in their lives when our aggressive indoctrination programs come into full swing." https://t.co/F9OgVOvbFs
— Stephen Herreid (@StephenHerreid) February 25, 2018
It's simple: Let dogs drive cars. https://t.co/PZOZtjRXnt
— prop op (@ProperOpinion) February 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/davidharsanyi/status/967564821368655872
https://twitter.com/bethanyshondark/status/968091848777588736
They should be able to buy guns then too if they're so responsible & wise. https://t.co/iK7MWXBwbN
— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) February 25, 2018
To be clear, though Bernstein would personally set the voting age as low as 13, he settles on 16 as “an easy call.”
These same teenagers had to be warned not to eat concentrated laundry detergent wrapped in plastic a month earlier. https://t.co/teDswvvQ4G
— T.J. Bradford, Ph.D. (@TJBradford1) February 25, 2018
How many tide pods do I have to eat to get on this level. https://t.co/WfXgg9nzMz
— The Red-Headed Libertarian™️ (@TRHLofficial) February 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/GlomarNeverDies/status/967885358527631361
Only if they also serve in the military. We don’t need some snort-nosed spoiled brats deciding national policies https://t.co/8MjFqNIeZL
— Obi_1_D_AllKnowing ?? (@obiopiah) February 25, 2018
Problem: Our stupid culture is reflected in our policy-ignorant, celebrity-obsessed, and intensely tribal political leadership
Solution: ……. https://t.co/zeu0540ziB— Jason Hart (@jasonahart) February 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/dangainor/status/967832926183411712
https://twitter.com/MyConservatism/status/968204146108174336
https://twitter.com/Elis_Gj/status/967682232352690176
https://twitter.com/torriangray/status/967670784708689921
Alternate idea: “Children” can vote when they’re no longer on their parents’ health plan https://t.co/fHXDAy8AOW
— DC Dude (@DCDude1776) February 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/AviWoolf/status/967563555510865920
Amend the Constitution, and I'm game. https://t.co/7mXqQ7QCk0
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) February 25, 2018
Some people legit want this huh? https://t.co/7B3G9cHybm
— Phil. the regular one. (@philthatremains) February 25, 2018
Christ no. Teenagers are idiots. Most 20-somethings aren't much better. https://t.co/3SVlIE24nC
— I'm a woman, and I'm mad as Hell (@nowhere_nh) February 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/wahrbear/status/968078809638387712
No. We should be making it harder for people to vote, not easier and certainly not for people who are not even yet adults. https://t.co/St2c1sR5R7
— Ken Gardner (@KenGardner11) February 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/wtfIiz/status/968224112781987843
No.
Lemme translate to #Teenglish:
LIKE OMG NO WAI MKAY FOR SURE REALZ SLAY QUEEN NO K https://t.co/rWZ54ocWET
— RightWired (@_donaldson) February 26, 2018
Why not? Because they’re foolish, their brains aren’t yet fully grown, they lack life experience, and they think they know far more than they actually do.
And the fact that you’d suggest such an absurdity indicates that a number of those phrases likely apply to you as well. https://t.co/jI1avZwo6b
— Count Vigo, Scourge of Carpathia (@DunsScottus) February 24, 2018
Related:
WHOOPS: Ex-Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett's call to lower voting age backfires HILARIOUSLY (on Dems) https://t.co/IYGdllivIB
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 22, 2018
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