The Patriot Post® · Leftists Use Teens as Pawns for Gun Control

A week after the high school massacre in Florida, the gun control push has been ratcheted up a notch. Not only will kids and their families take to the streets of DC for March For Our Lives next month, teens from the school are in Florida’s capital to demand change. The Associated Press reports, “Students who survived the Florida school shooting prepared to flood the Capitol Wednesday pushing to ban the assault-style rifle used to kill 17 people, vowing to make changes in the November election if they can’t persuade lawmakers to change laws before their legislative session ends.”

First, a point we always make. So-called “assault weapons” are nothing of the sort. That’s a made-up term by the Leftmedia meant to make people afraid of what is a basic semi-automatic rifle with certain cosmetic features. Find out the truth here.

Second, it’s incredibly unfortunate that teenagers likely suffering post-traumatic stress from a horrific attack are being held up as the sage voices of reason and unassailable moral authority. The Left is using these kids as pawns to advance gun control, and it’s arguably even more sick than politicians making a platform out of the caskets of Sandy Hook’s children.

It’s not just these Florida students, either. Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun Everytown for Gun Safety is spinning off a group called Students Demand Action, which can spread the Left’s agenda nationwide.

That is not to say adults shouldn’t listen to kids who are traumatized, but supposedly following them is another matter. As Dan McLaughlin writes, “If you have ever been, or known, a teenager, you know that even comparatively well-informed teens are almost always just advancing arguments they’ve heard from adults, and typically without much consideration of the opposing arguments.”

The effectiveness of the Left’s strategy here, however, is that it’s tough to rebut an emotional appeal to “the children.” In fact, The New York Times featured an article yesterday conflating reasoned criticism with some off-the-wall conspiracy theories about the teen protesters. Calling the teens pawns of the Left is entirely different than alleging a “false flag” or “crisis actors.” But it serves the agenda to discredit all conservative voices while shouting us down for objecting.