Posted on 12/26/2018 2:36:47 PM PST by Mafe
Is gun confiscation coming to Congress?
The 2018 midterm elections produced a split Congress with Democrats gaining control of the House and Republicans gaining seats in the Senate.
The chattering DC classes are already speculating about the Democrat’s plans to subpoena Trump’s tax records and Senate Republicans’ moves to consolidate their hold of the federal judiciary. But amid the DC gossip, a new threat is being overlooked—red flag gun confiscation orders.
The Guardian detailed House Democrats’ desire to pass gun control legislation in the upcoming Congress:
“Ted Deutch, a Democratic congressman from Florida who represents Parkland, where a February school shooting left 17 dead, said this week that he expected House Democrats to focus on bills with more bipartisan support. Those measures included bump stock bans and “extreme risk protection orders”, also known as red flag laws, which give law enforcement and family members a way to petition a court to temporarily bar an unstable person from buying or owning guns.”
With the cries for gun control growing stronger, the federal government may finally give in to public pressure to “do something.” Red flag laws might just be the “come together” moment establishment politicians have been looking for. What Are Red Flag Laws?
Red flag laws or Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) are the euphemistic label for the gun control push du jure blazing across the nation. Under red flag laws, law enforcement has the ability to confiscate an individual’s firearms who is deemed a threat to themselves or others. A simple accusation from a family member, friend, or associate will suffice to seize someone’s firearms.
These laws, mind you, operate in complete violation of due process. Individuals can take their accusers to court, even though the defendant in question has never been charged with or convicted of a crime. Additionally, the defendant could have their weapons confiscated without even so much as a hearing a before a judge. It could take months before a gun owner would have to appear in court to win back his gun rights.
Thirteen states currently have red flag laws on the books, with dozens more filing their own versions. What started out as a state-level movement may have some legs at the federal level. Although it’s true that Congressional Democrats are making gun control a major theme of their legislative agenda, it’s naïve to think red flag laws are only relevant because of “gun-grabbing” Democrats have taken power.
As we’ll see below, red flag laws have a history of bipartisan support. And when any piece of legislation has Democrats and Republicans locking arms in agreement, you know trouble lies ahead. The Gun Control Bipartisan Status Quo
Despite the passionate campaign rhetoric, a significant portion of Republican politicians will change colors on gun rights once in DC. Several GOP members in the upcoming Congress stick out like a sore thumb when it comes to their gun control advocacy:
Lindsay Graham: The South Carolina Senator already introduced a red flag bill earlier this year. With the 116th Congress right around the corner, Graham will likely reach across the aisle with Democrat colleagues to move red flag legislation forward. Graham has opined that red flag legislation is the “place where we begin a long-overdue discussion about firearms and mental health. But we must start.”
Marco Rubio: Following the Parkland shootings, Rubio joined the gun control chorus by sponsoring a red flag bill along with Democrat Senators Joe Manchin, Bill Nelson, & Jack Reed. Rubio has even flirted with the idea of regulations on magazine clips, raising the minimum age to buy certain firearms like AR-15s, and tweaking the current background check system.
Mitt Romney: The incoming Utah Senator has an anti-gun record as Governor of Massachusetts. As Governor, Romney signed an assault weapons ban into law in 2004. In political fashion, Romney obscured his anti-gun act by turning to pro-Second Amendment platitudes during both of his presidential runs in 2008 and 2012. In a 2007 statement, Romney expressed that he does not “support any new gun laws including any new ban on semi-automatic firearms.” Nevertheless, the fallout from the recent Parkland shooting has made Romney reconsider the validity of enhanced background checks.
Rick Scott: Former Governor of Florida and Florida’s new Senator, Rick Scott poses an interesting threat to gun rights. Despite his ostensibly pro-gun rhetoric, Scott signed SB 7026 Florida’s most expansive gun control measure in recent history. Pressured by the outrage from the Parkland School shooting, Scott’s SB 7026 contains red flag provisions, raises the age to buy a firearm to 21, and imposes a three-day waiting period for all firearms purchases.
Trump Administration: Even the Executive branch is joining in on the red flag craze. The Trump Administration’s Commission on School Safety recently released a report recommending red flag laws as a means to “address school safety and violence.” It’s only a matter of time before legislation is introduced in either chamber of Congress now that the Trump administration has endorsed red flag laws.
Even Larry Hogan, the Republican Governor of Maryland, kowtowed to anti-gun pressure. On April 24, 2018, Hogan signed a series of gun bills, one which included a red flag law. In October, the first month Maryland’s red flag law went into effect, there were 114 requests to confiscate individuals’ firearms.
Maryland’s red flag law has not been without its fair share of controversy. At 5 a.m on Monday, November 5, two police officers came knocking on 61-year-old Gary Willis’ door to serve him a court order mandating that he turn over his guns. What seemed like a typical court order, quickly turned deadly as one of the cops shot and killed Willis in a struggle that ensued. Quick to defend one of his own, Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare defended the cops’ action by callously claiming that they “did the best they could with the situation they had.” Anti-Gun Ideology is Growing
The tragic incident in Maryland is an ominous sign of what is to come should red flag laws gain more traction.
Whether or not Republicans will support Congressional iterations of Red Flag laws is anyone’s guess. The bigger problem at hand is an ideological one. When society’s ideological compass is off, government transgressions can come at any time. The passage of red flag laws could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
More than a century’s worth of Progressivism has normalized universalist ideas such as economic controls, big spending, never-ending wars, and now, gun control. Misguided conservatives can debate ad infinitum on the forums or their talk radio shows about how certain Republicans “sell out” or betray their movement.
This, however, ignores how selling out—rubber stamping big government, embracing globalism, and embarking on nation-building—has been the standard operating procedure for many conservatives throughout the last century. Gun rights will be no different.
Gun owners will need to de-program and recognize that decentralization, not the winner-take-all electoral slugfest we see at the federal level every 4 years, is the best way in securing their gun rights.
In an interesting turn of events, even the liberal ACLU says that these “red flag laws” are unconstitutional, because they violate the due process rights of those accused.
Are you on the wrong site?
Not in the slightest way.
"Clear and convincing evidence" is whatever the Judge says it is. And Law Enforcement Officers can say anything they want to say.
These laws are designed for ever-widening interpretation that will justify firearms confiscation from anybody that the Government finds inconvenient.
I was thinking the same thing.
“...the cries for gun control growing stronger...”
As Rush would say, BS Barbra Streisand.
There are no such cries. The author of this screed is on meth.
They’ll have to come after privately owned lathes and mills as well.
Bipartisan support among socialists and communists. Enemies domestic ALERT!
Look at blue states’ (for now) Red Flag laws. They are pretty liberal as to who can make a denunciation of a gun owner’s supposed mental state and it does not have to be family or someone under the same roof.
The worst part about Red Flag is that false official statements are no longer treated as felony perjury. The penalty for doing so now is a simple misdemeanor. In other words, snitches are encouraged to turn in their neighbors. Snitches like your liberal neighbor or disgruntled ex who can under the new law reach out and seriously hurt someone.
“He voted for Trump so he must be crazy and dangerous”.
As noted, “clear and convincing evidence” is whatever an Obama judge says it is.
Confining knowledge of your guns to as few as possible used to be a matter of physical security. Now it may help prevent your being labeled an enemy of the people.
This is the gungrabbers’ Holy Grail: to make gun ownership socially undesirable just as Eric Holder intends, and to make gun owners suspect in the eyes of those around them.
Nope. The author is entirely correct !
Already accepted in probably every stat is the ‘protective order’
Under the Brady law, a clause allows your guns to be taken if some files for a protective order.
Technically, even if the State reminds the order you cannot get your rights restored under Federal law because there are not legal paths to do so. Although currently most Statea ignore that provision on a rescinded order.
A friend got divorced. The ex filed for a protective order. The Sheriff came the next day and picked up his guns.
It took him months to regain his firearms.
The camels nose is already well, well under the tent.
Shall not be infringed...
The Louisiana Supreme Court even provides handy standard forms...
And keeps a database.
https://www.lasc.org/court_managed_prog/LPOR/filing_steps.asp#s1
They are given out like candy.
“NOTICE TO DEFENDANT - VIOLATION OF ORDER:
PURSUANT TO LA. R.S. 14:79, A PERSON WHO VIOLATES THIS ORDER MAY BE ARRESTED, JAILED, AND PROSECUTED.
PURSUANT TO LA. R.S. 46:2137 AND LA. CH. C. ARTICLE 1571, A PERSON WHO VIOLATES THIS ORDER MAY BE PUNISHED FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT BY A FINE OF NOT MORE THAN $500 OR BY CONFINEMENT IN JAIL FOR AS LONG AS 6 MONTHS, OR BOTH, AND MAY BE FURTHER PUNISHED UNDER CRIMINAL LAWS OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA. THIS ORDER SHALL BE ENFORCED BY ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND COURTS OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA.
Page 5 of 6 LPOR 1 v.10
Docket No. _______________________
NOTICE TO DEFENDANT – FIREARMS (Domestic abuse or dating violence ONLY):
AS A RESULT OF THIS ORDER, IT MAY BE UNLAWFUL FOR YOU TO POSSESS, RECEIVE, SHIP, TRANSPORT OR PURCHASE A FIREARM, INCLUDING A RIFLE, PISTOL, OR REVOLVER, OR AMMUNITION, FOR THE DURATION OF THIS ORDER PURSUANT TO STATE AND/OR FEDERAL LAWS. See below.
And
If you have any questions whether these laws make it illegal for you to possess or purchase a firearm or ammunition, consult an attorney.
Federal law: 18 U.S.C. 922 (g)(8) prohibits a defendant from purchasing, possessing, shipping, transporting, or receiving firearms or ammunition* for the duration of this order if the following conditions apply:
- Protected person(s) relationship to defendant is checked in Box A on page 2 of this order
AND
- Notice and opportunity for a hearing provided AND
- EITHER Judicial finding of credible threat, OR
Certain behaviors are prohibited (item 1 on page 3 of this order is initialed)
*Under 18 U.S.C. 921 the term “firearm” means (A) any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; (B) the frame or receiver of any such weapon; (C) any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or (D) any destructive device. Such term does not include an antique firearm. The term “ammunition” means ammunition or cartridge cases, primers, bullets, or propellant powder designed for use in any firearm.
“
I sure hope that Trump gets to replace Ginsberg, it will be so nice when the Supreme Court shafts the Democrats.
That’s not only gun control, it’s Cajun control.
Hey mon, you go into the bayou to serve dat order, you just might not be comin’ out again.
garbage article from a garbage website ... FR is becoming a garbage pit of garbage ...
When these laws get put into effect start using them against the leftists every TV talking head newspaper editor city council member etc gets the treatment! Include the state legislators S well!
Gun control exists. I have absolute control of my guns.
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