American home cooks erupted at the news that nanny state bureaucrats have set their sights on gas stoves as the latest hazard they want to eliminate. After fierce backlash, Democrats are eager to convince you that this is just a case of smoke without a gas-powered fire.

Virginia Democrat Congressman Don Beyer, who is spearheading the effort to rid you of your supposed kitchen killer, thinks those raising the alarm about a looming gas stove ban are gaslighting the American public. He even posted a reassuring note on Twitter explaining that he didn’t call for a ban on gas stoves, he only sent a letter asking a powerful federal agency — the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) — to do it!

The Washington Post also pushed back on the gas stove panic, explaining that “the commission isn’t going to snatch anyone’s stove. It’s merely considering regulations.” Because regulations never drive businesses out of business, right Dr. Fauci?

Even the White House asserted that the president does not support a ban on gas stoves. His position would matter if the CPSC wasn’t an entirely independent agency — free to regulate and remove products at will.

The letter that was sent by Rep. Donald Beyer and a coalition of House and Senate Democrats to the CPSC partly relied on the results of a biased “study” produced by a radical green activist organization that claimed using gas stoves exacerbates respiratory conditions and asthma in children. Despite the flimsy evidence, the letter worked!

In response, commission member Richard Trumka, Jr., son of former AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka, Sr., called gas stoves a “hidden hazard” and said the agency would look into regulating and possibly banning gas stoves, adding “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”

But those raising the alarm are gaslighting?

Beyer et al. even offered some suggestions on what the CPSC regulations might look like.

For instance, they suggested requiring new gas stoves to be sold with a particular range hood. In other words, consumers could still get a gas range but only if they can also afford another very expensive accessory.

Green activists also insist that ventilation hoods vent to the outdoors to remove harmful particulates entirely from a dwelling, which would require costly home renovations for most homeowners if they want to replace a gas range. But again, you can still have a gas range.

The legislators also asked the CPSC to create a whole new set of mandatory performance standards for gas stoves. These types of standards are often used to reduce health risks associated with a product, but when no significant health risk has been proven, the standards are meant to accomplish something else.

In this case, it’s to make gas stoves more expensive and therefore harder for people to purchase. Appliance manufacturers will have to undergo the expensive process of research, design and development of a whole new product to meet these new requirements. Of course, these companies won’t pay. Consumers will — in the form of higher prices on the ovens they want.

Rep. Beyer and his colleagues also asked the CPSC to consider requiring labels on new gas stoves that tell you you could die using their product. So appetizing!

And of course, they want a “public education campaign” to promote the myth that gas stoves kill — a convenient deterrent to people considering the purchase of a gas stove.

CPSC has a noble goal: to keep consumers safe and store shelves stocked with quality products. But increasingly, federal agencies are being weaponized to push political agendas.

And the CPSC is particularly vulnerable to being used by radical green activists who are relentless in their mission to remove safe, affordable, and durable products from the marketplace.

Democrats and the legacy media are correct when they say no one is going to show up and rip your gas stove out of your kitchen.

But Americans are right to be worried, since policymakers are working incrementally toward limiting your choices and taking away the products you love.