1. There’s No Evidence Red Flag Laws Reduce Gun Violence
The Associated Press reports Congress is seriously considering red flag gun laws.
These laws, also called “extreme risk protection orders,” allow courts to issue orders allowing law enforcement to seize firearms from people who’ve committed no crime but are believed to be a danger to themselves or others.
President Trump has signaled his backing of bipartisan Senate legislation sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
“We must make sure that those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearms and that if they do those firearms can be taken through rapid due process,” Trump said in a White House speech.
Red flag laws have garnered support from several conservative intellectuals, as well, including David French of National Review and Ben Shapiro.
Here are seven reasons red flag laws should be opposed, particularly at the federal level.
Most people haven’t heard of red flag laws until recently—if they have at all—but they aren’t new.
Connecticut enacted the nation’s first red flag law in 1999, followed by Indiana (2005). This means social scientists have had decades to analyze the effectiveness of these laws. And what did they find?
“The evidence,” The New York Times recently reported, “for whether extreme risk protection orders work to prevent gun violence is inconclusive, according to a study by the RAND Corporation on the effectiveness of gun safety measures.”
The Washington Post reports that California’s red flag went basically unused for two years after its passage in 2016. Washington, D.C.’s law has gone entirely unused. Other states, such as Florida and Maryland, have gone the other direction, seizing hundreds of firearms from gun-owners. Yet it’s unclear if these actions stopped a shooting.
With additional states passing red flag laws, researchers will soon have much more data to analyze. But before passing expansive federal legislation that infringes on civil liberties, lawmakers should have clear and compelling empirical evidence that red flag laws actually do what they are intended to do.
The Founding Fathers clearly enumerated the powers of the federal government in the Constitution. Among the powers granted in Article I, Section 8 are “the power to coin money, to regulate commerce, to declare war, to raise and maintain armed forces, and to establish a Post Office.”
Regulating firearms is not among the powers listed in the Constitution (though this has not always stopped lawmakers from regulating them). In fact, the document expressly forbids the federal government from doing so, stating in the Second Amendment that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Unlike the federal government, whose powers, James Madison noted, are “few and defined,” states possess powers that “are numerous and indefinite.”
Indeed, 17 states and the District of Columbia already have red flag laws, and many more states are in the process of adding them. This shows that the people and their representatives are fully capable of passing such laws if they choose. If red flag laws are deemed desirable, this is the appropriate place to pursue such laws, assuming they pass constitutional muster. But do they?
The Constitution mandates that no one shall be “deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.”
Seizing the property of individuals who have been convicted of no crime violates this provision. Gun control advocates claim due process is not violated because people whose firearms are taken can appeal to courts to reclaim their property. However, as economist Raheem Williams has observed, “this backward process would imply that the Second Amendment is a privilege, not a right.”
Depriving individuals of a clearly established, constitutionally-guaranteed right in the absence of criminal charges or trial is an affront to civil liberties.
In 2018, two Maryland police officers shot and killed 61-year-old Gary Willis in his own house after waking him at 5:17 a.m. The officers, who were not harmed during the shooting, had been ordered to remove guns from his home under the state’s red flag law, which had gone into effect one month prior to the shooting.
While red flag laws are designed to reduce violence, it’s possible they could do the opposite by creating confrontations between law enforcement and gun owners like Willis, especially as the enforcement of red flag laws expands.
In theory, red flag laws are supposed to target individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others. In practice, they can work quite differently.
In a 14-page analysis, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island explained that few people understand just how expansive the state’s red flag law is.
“It is worth emphasizing that while a seeming urgent need for [the law] derives from recent egregious and deadly mass shootings, [the law’s] reach goes far beyond any efforts to address such extraordinary incidents,” the authors said. Individuals who find themselves involved in these proceedings often have no clear constitutional right to counsel.
“As written, a person could be subject to an extreme risk protective order (ERPO) without ever having committed, or even having threatened to commit, an act of violence with a firearm.”
Though comprehensive information is thin, and laws differ from state to state, anecdotal evidence suggests Rhode Island’s law is not unique. A University of Central Florida student, for example, was hauled into proceedings and received a year-long RPO (risk protection order) for saying “stupid” things on Reddit following a mass shooting, even though the student had no criminal history and didn’t own a firearm. (The student also was falsely portrayed as a “ticking time bomb” by police, Jacub Sullum reports.) Another man, Reason reports, was slapped with an RPO for criticizing teenage gun control activists online and sharing a picture of an AR-15 rifle he had built.
Individuals who find themselves involved in these proceedings often have no clear constitutional right to counsel, civil libertarians point out.
As I’ve previously observed, red flag laws are essentially a form of pre-crime, a theme explored in the 2002 Steven Spielberg movie Minority Report, based on a 1956 Philip K. Dick novel.
I’m not the only writer to make the connection. In an article that appeared in Salon, Travis Dunn linked red flag laws “to the science fiction scenario of The Minority Report, in which precognitive police try to stop crimes before they’re committed.”
That government can prevent crimes before they occur may sound like sci-fi fantasy (which it is), but the threat posed to civil liberties is quite real.
If this sounds far-fetched, consider that the president recently called upon social media companies to collaborate with the Department of Justice to catch “red flags” using algorithmic technology.
The idea that governments can prevent crimes before they occur may sound like sci-fi fantasy (which it is), but the threat such ideas pose to civil liberties is quite real.
Compromising civil liberties and property rights to prevent acts of violence that have yet to occur are policies more suited for dystopian thrillers—and police states—than a free society.
It’s clear that laws of this magnitude should not be passed as an emotional or political response to an event, even a tragic one.
Jonathan Miltimore is the Managing Editor of FEE.org. His writing/reporting has appeared in TIME magazine, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, Fox News, and the Washington Times.
This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.
W-rong Bush hired the former head of the East German STASI, Marcus Wolf, and Yevgeny Primakov, former head of the KGB, to design Homeland Security ( both Jews, Followed by more “dual”citizen creeps.). Why? To bring the SNITCH-SOCIETY/oppression HERE
Where are the RED FLAG laws on Politicians? DEMAND they do the exact same thing-PLUS.
Politicians, Police, Judges, Government Workers make Life & Death deadly decisions every day.
WE should be able to make ONE call and have them suspended from office and blocked from making any decisions until they are cleared for duty.
Red Flags on priests! Why did it take DECADES for the politicians to do ANYTHING about those THOUSANDS of pedophiles??!
There must be “reporting centers” so priests and politicians(Gov. Employees) can be immediately suspended pending investigation.
Public Servants are also expected to be held to Higher Standards due to their positions and maintaining the Public Trust.
How come there is never a “War on Political Corruption”? Never investigation of how these “Sacrificing Public SERVANTS” get so RICH in office? Audit THEIR finances.
Therefore when they come out with such demands of their EMPLOYERS, their EMPLOYERS have the Right and Duty to make the same demand of THEM.
WE demand THEY provide ALL their social media and computer searches, their e-mail accounts, Bank accounts and financial records for examination. Also Mental Screening, physical records, testing for steroids and illicit drugs. They must also wear GPS trackers so we can evaluate where they are spending their time. Screening for pedophilia and any other sickness.
If it is good enough for US it is certainly good enough for Our EMPLOYEES.
The FIRST “Red Flags” should be thrown on the Police.
Under construction/development. Feel free to run with it, share, develop:
It is Time for a National Memorial to Citizen Victims .
Mandatory Law needed: The Abused Citizen Victim Apology Law:
Any time the police botch a raid on the wrong house, murder a Citizen for no cause, recklessly injure, kill, a Citizen, and other false arrests where their TAXPAYER FUNDED body-cameras “just happen” to not work, and every other screw-up situation ……. EVERY cop anywhere in the area shall assemble, “Take a Knee” and cover their hearts with their covers in apology. with their cars flashing lights ……………….. The same actions will take place for Citizen funerals.
A prominent memorial to be erected in every large city dedicated to the innocent victims of abusive and corrupt police. Annually, a day of reflection and regret. on date (May 26th?) to be determined, there will be a Citizen Victim Day whereupon EVERY cop will assemble at said monument to meditate and reflect on Murdered Citizens and again kneel, doff covers, and pray to God for forgiveness.
There will be mandatory monthly ethics classes on such subjects as “Negative Effect on Society of Perjury by police” and “Sociatal impact of Murder by police”.
These acts shall be in addition to punitive damages and restitution paid.
Have you noticed there are no massive funerals with TAXPAYER FUNDED police cars/equipment and TAXPAYER PAID police saluting for the VICTIMS of police MURDERS?
Where is the recognition and apologies to the VICTIMS of their BLUNDERING???
Always remember —- these are the “HIGHLY TRAINED PROFESSIONALS” that the government says will protect you if you just be nice and give the government your guns. Police murder more Citizens every year than do terrorists.
The cowardice of hiding MURDER behind lies of “resisting arrest” and “I was in fear for my life” should immediately disqualify for life anyone from ever engaging in “law enforcement” . If you are that cowardly you should be a greeter at Walmart.
Yeah sure, the POLICE – — According to journalist Matt Agorist, “mass shootings … have claimed the lives of 339 people since 2015… [D]uring this same time frame, police in America have claimed the lives of 4,355 citizens.” That’s 1200% more people killed by police than mass shooters since 2015.Currently, in the U.S., law enforcement kills around 1,200 citizens per year. Ironically, that number is actually four times higher than those who die from rifles. https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/who_inflicts_the_most_gun_violence_in_america_the_u.s._government_and_police_forces
The Washington Post published Sunday a list of all of the names of the victims of every mass shooting since 1966. During that 54-year span, a total of 1,196 people have died at the hands of mass shooters, averaging 22 deaths per year via mass shooting over that period. Police kill 1,200 a YEAR.
8. The Gun confiscation operation is all based on false flag terrorism.
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1. There’s No Evidence Red Flag Laws Reduce Gun Violence
Research & References of 1. There’s No Evidence Red Flag Laws Reduce Gun Violence|A&C Accounting And Tax Services
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