The teenagers who organized the March for Our Lives are too stupid and apathetic to vote in the same elections with middle-aged gun-nuts, declares the National Rifle Association.
In a new video, denouncing the proposal to reduce DC’s voting age to 16, the NRA repeats a number of lies. They claim, for example, that 16-year-old brains aren’t developed enough to participate in elections. Of course, actual scientists say otherwise. In the words of Dr. Laurence Steinberg:
Studies of cold cognition have shown that the skills necessary to make informed decisions are firmly in place by 16. By that age, adolescents can gather and process information, weigh pros and cons, reason logically with facts and take time before making a decision. Teenagers may sometimes make bad choices, but statistically speaking, they do not make them any more often than adults do.
The NRA’s Dana Loesch says 16-year-olds should be locked out of the voting booth because, “I was insufferable at that age.” Now, she appears to be well into her 40s and is still insufferable, so by her logic, I guess we should scrap democracy all together.
She goes on to say, in her overly dramatic fashion, that teenagers should be barred from voting because they’re overly dramatic.
You can watch the NRA video. Or, if you’d like honest information about 16-year-old voters, you can watch this legitimate local news broadcast about an American city that has enjoyed a 16 voting age for five years now, where the voter turnout rate for all ages has risen ever since and citizens are more engaged than ever.
Is it possible that what the NRA fears most is these young activists rejuvenating our democracy?