Guns: Democrats Keep Pushing to Eliminate American's Due Process Rights

The Democrats are at it again (not that they've ever stopped). 

They are out trying to eliminate due process rights of people in order to confiscate their guns even under the flimsiest of reasons.

John R. Lott, Jr. writes in Townhall.com:

Everyone wants to stop dangerous people from getting guns. To some, the obvious solution lies in Red Flag laws, also called Extreme Risk Protection Orders, that enable easy confiscation. The expansion of entitlements bill before Congress already contains $2.5 billion in incentives for states to adopt these laws, but the House Judiciary Committee, of which one of the authors is a member, will vote on a federal bill on Wednesday.

The votes will be along party lines, but it isn’t as if Democrats care about stopping violence and Republicans don’t. You would never know this from the media coverage, but the opposite is true.

All states and the federal government already have laws on the books that deal with people who are a danger to themselves or others. These laws are commonly known as Baker Act statutes, though they go by different names in different states. They allow police, doctors, and family members to have someone held for a 72-hour mental health examination based upon a simple reasonableness test – merely an educated guess or hunch.

These laws focus on mental illness, and they require that mental healthcare experts evaluate the individual. If a person can’t afford a lawyer, a public defender is provided. While judges can choose to involuntarily commit individuals who they believe are dangers to themselves or others, there is a broad range of other, less extreme options that involve monitoring or mental care.

But instead of using these laws, 17 states have now adopted Red Flag laws. Thirteen states adopted them since 2018, after the infamous Parkland, Fla. high school shooting. While Red Flag laws are discussed as mental health measures and are often promoted to prevent suicide, only one state’s law even mentions mental illness. None of the states require that a mental-health expert be involved in evaluating the person. The only option given to judges is to take away a person’s guns. 

When faced with legal bills that can easily amount to $10,000 for a hearing and the worst that can happen is their guns will be taken away, few people find that it makes sense to fight Red Flag laws. Under Red Flag laws, initial firearms confiscations usually require just a “reasonable suspicion.” Judges will initially confiscate a person’s guns on the basis of a written complaint. When hearings take place weeks or a month later, courts overturn a third of the initial orders. But since few defendants have legal representation, the actual error rate is undoubtedly much higher.

It is a sure bet that none of the red flag laws already on the books in states have no protections for people who are victims of an vindictive ex out for revenge, which is what happened to me a few years ago.

If, what the article says is correct, the vote is to take place today. Contact your representatives and urge a no vote.

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