NC Congressman Compares Anti-Gun Teens To Antifa

LEXINGTON – Republican Congressman Ted Budd sports a top conservative ranking representing the 13th District and he doesn’t buy into the narrative that the anti-gun marches across the country last weekend are organic. Instead, he said in an interview with Davidson County’s ‘The Dispatch,’ the teens have been co-opted by the political forces of the Radical Left. We couldn’t agree more.

“On Monday, Rep. Ted Budd referred to the March for Our Lives event on Saturday as an “Antifa” movement with a different purpose and said he believes the young people involved are being co-opted.

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The congressman said he sees good energy in the young men and women behind the marches and understands their anger, but added that he believes there are misunderstandings around the issue.”

Contrary to the assertions of the anti-gun activists, everyone is angry and troubled by tragic events like Parkland and wondering what meaningful steps can be taken to prevent such atrocities. Many of those steps require actually following existing laws, having accountable authorities that act on ‘red flags,’ and providing a reasonable level of protection for school children.

The misunderstandings, while innocent on the part of many in support stricter gun laws, are being purposely promulgated by the activist class on the Left. In fact, the key figures in this “teen movement,” students from Parkland, are driven by Radical Leftist ideologies.

David Hogg has made his political philosophies clear, while Emma Gonzalez wears hers on her sleeve – literally. Gonzalez sported an army green jacket to the March for Our Lives event with the flag of communist dictatorship Cuba on the sleeve. She’s likely just a couple years away from donning a Che Guevara T-shirt as if he is some sort of hero.

Budd rightly points out how the Left has funneled the emotional response to Parkland toward its political aims.

″… We need to keep it out of the hands of dangerous criminals that have criminal intent,” Budd said. “We have to do better background checks, and we have to make sure people are mentally healthy. And those are real concerns.

“I understand their anger, but at the same time, I wrote about 50 things yesterday that relate to the Constitution and that relate to messaging on firearms and relate to general misunderstanding, so it’s a very complex issue. I mean, 17 children died and it goes all the way back to 1999 when this happened at Columbine. We’re having mental health breakdowns, but we just don’t want to stop there. I think ultimately, this takes securing schools, and hardening up these sites. There’s a lot of things we can do, but there’s a lot of misdirection at the same time and that’s very concerning to me, as well. There’s a rage, but it’s pointed in the wrong direction.”

Don’t expect that direction to change anytime soon. The Left are experts at channeling misplaced grievances into a narrative whose desired climax is the domination of the State over the Individual.

You need look no further than all the posters at these rallies blatantly calling for gun confiscation, and equating the NRA to murderers.

It’s great that the people of the 13th District have a representative that understands this, and stands strong in the face of Leftist hysteria.