Vermont Bill Criminalizing Cell Phone Use for Anyone Under 21 Is a Brilliant Troll

A Vermont legislator has introduced a bill that would ban anyone under 21 from using a cellphone. Under the legislation introduced by Sen. John Rodgers (D–Essex-Orleans), 20-year-olds caught talking, texting, or TikToking could be imprisoned for up to a year and face $1,000 in fines.

If that sounds ridiculous, it's because it's supposed to be. Judging from Rodgers' comments to the Barre Montpelier Times Argus, the pro–Second Amendment Democrat is trying to troll his gun-grabbing colleagues.

"I have no delusions that it's going to pass. I wouldn't probably vote for it myself," Rodgers told the Times Argus. He added that the Vermont legislature "seems bent on taking away our Second Amendment rights."

The text of Rodgers' bill says that "young people frequently use cell phones to bully and threaten other young people, activities that have been linked to many suicides." The bill also notes that cell phones have been used to radicalize youth and that mass shooters have used them to research previous mass shootings.