The new Democratic take on gun control? Criminalize kids for playing with squirt guns and posting about it on social media.
If that sounds too crazy to be true, just look at the text of a bill proposed by Florida state Sen. Jason Pizzo:
Not only would that criminalize minors with a punishment of up to a year in prison or a fine of up to $1,000 for posting pictures of themselves learning to shoot at Boy Scout camp and playing paintball, but the inclusion of “a device displayed to resemble a firearm” means the law could be applied to toy guns as part of Halloween costumes, Nerf guns, and even squirt guns.
More bizarrely, the prohibition extends to all pictures of firearms, not just a minor holding one, let alone using one illegally. That means this law could even apply to minors advocating for gun control on social media should a post contain an image of a gun. Such posts, just like ones advocating for Second Amendment rights using an image of a gun, however, clearly fall under speech protected by the First Amendment.
Such prohibitions fail to accomplish any modicum of gun safety and instead actually add criminally defined pitfalls to kids trying to learn how to use guns safely and the parents, instructors, and coaches who are trying to teach them.
By making it criminal for a kid to post an image of themselves hunting, which is legal in Florida at age 16, or participating in high school shooting teams, the law is likely to penalize those using guns in a safe and supervised settings — the exact behaviors of responsible gun ownership that should be encouraged.
In reality, having such a law on the books would be little more than a new pathway via social media to put kids in jail for doing things that kids do, like playing cops and robbers, dressing up as James Bond, earning the rifle shooting merit badge, and talking about gun laws on the Internet.
The intent of this law seems to be to make it harder for kids to either accidentally or on purpose hurt themselves or others, or to encourage such acts on social media. That’s unquestionably a great goal. The problem is that’s not at all what this bill does.
With overly broad provisions combined with the heavy-handed consequences of a criminal justice system, the law instead adds needless new provisions. Indeed, Florida law already mandates that guns be safely stored where kids cannot access them. Furthermore, threatening behavior, meaning when a “credible threat” is made with a social media picture or otherwise, is not subject to constitutional protections.
If Pizzo is serious about keeping kids safe, rather than just making an ill-conceived political show of being tough on guns, he’s got a lot of learning to do. For starters, he should actually take a look at the text of the First and Second Amendments.
[Also read: How New Zealand’s gun laws compare to the States’]
