— A bill introduced in the Vermont Senate would make it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to use or possess a cellphone in the state.
The bill, S.212, would make possession or use of a cellphone a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of a year behind bars or a $1,000 fine or both.
The legislation links cellphone use by people under the age of 21 to a rise in driving fatalities, suicides, mass shootings and terrorism.
“The internet and social media, accessed primarily through cell phones, are used to radicalize and recruit terrorists, fascists and other extremists,” the bill reads.
Senator John Rodgers, a Democrat, said he introduced the bill on Tuesday to make a point.
“I have no delusions that it’s going to pass,” he told the Barre Montpelier Times Argus newspaper on Wednesday. “I wouldn’t probably vote for it myself.”
Rodgers said he’s a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms and the legislature “seems bent on taking away our Second Amendment rights.”
He said based on the information presented in his bill, a cellphone is much more dangerous than a gun.
Justin_Eiger on January 10th, 2020 at 17:33 UTC »
That and no drivers license till 27years of age.
InsertSmartassRemark on January 10th, 2020 at 17:08 UTC »
Does it strike anyone else how tiny the cellphones in the thumbnail look? I'd imagine with the proliferation of gigantic phones that we'd look back on our old Nokia and flip phones and find them positively dinky.
sarcasm_hurts on January 10th, 2020 at 15:58 UTC »
Guys, it was a joke. I work with the Vermont legislature and Sen Rodgers does this kind of stuff regularly to make a point.
In a debate on the Senate Floor last year regarding the regulation of electronic scooters (Bird, etc.) he stood and made it known that he didn't support letting them be on our roads because they were dangerous. Then a few minutes later he rose again, in support this time, because he thought it may lead to a few people in the populated areas being killed, thereby reducing the population. Everyone laughed. It's how he rolls.
Edit for everyone complaining about the waste of tax dollars - this probably took a legislative counsel (lawyer) an hour, max. The bill was introduced (it's name was read aloud) then sent to committee, where it will never be worked on again. There will be a piece of paper with the bill name and number on it stuck to a corkboard until May when it will be thrown in the shredder.