{"id":8469,"date":"2019-01-12T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2019-01-12T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/?p=8469"},"modified":"2024-09-23T22:57:14","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T04:57:14","slug":"bipartisan-gun-confiscation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/bipartisan-gun-confiscation\/","title":{"rendered":"Bipartisan Support for &#8220;Red Flag&#8221; Gun Confiscation Is Growing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>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.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>\u2014 Published with Permission of Mises.org \u2014<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Is gun confiscation coming to Congress?<\/p>\n<p>The 2018 midterm elections produced a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/health-care-trump-animate-voters-survey-shows-1541548869\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">split Congress<\/a>\u00a0with Democrats gaining control of the House and Republicans gaining seats in the Senate.<\/p>\n<p>The chattering DC classes are already speculating about the Democrats&#8217; plans to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/pelosi-shows-how-democrats-can-now-subpoena-trump-admin-after-midterms-2018-11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">subpoena<\/a>\u00a0Trump\u2019s tax records and Senate Republicans\u2019 moves to consolidate their hold of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/11\/07\/us\/politics\/senate-judges-appointed.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">federal judiciary<\/a>. But amid the DC gossip, a new threat is being overlooked\u2014red flag gun confiscation orders.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Guardian\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2018\/nov\/09\/house-democrats-gun-control-legislation-pledge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">detailed<\/a>\u00a0House Democrats\u2019 desire to pass gun control legislation in the upcoming Congress:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>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 \u201cextreme risk protection orders\u201d, 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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>With the cries for gun control growing stronger, the federal government may finally give in to public pressure to \u201cdo something.\u201d Red flag laws might just be the \u201ccome together\u201d moment establishment politicians have been looking for.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"link-0\"><strong>What Are Red Flag Laws?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Red flag laws, or Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs), are the euphemistic\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mises.org\/power-market\/red-flag-laws-latest-anti-gun-scheme\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">label<\/a>\u00a0for the gun control push du jour blazing across the nation. Under red flag laws, law enforcement has the ability to confiscate an individual\u2019s firearms if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others. A simple accusation from a family member, friend, or associate will suffice to seize someone\u2019s firearms.<\/p>\n<p>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 before a judge. It could take months before a gun owner would have to appear in court to win back his gun rights.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Red_flag_law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thirteen states<\/a>\u00a0currently 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\u2019s true that Congressional Democrats are making gun control a major theme of their legislative agenda, it\u2019s na\u00efve to think red flag laws are only relevant because \u201cgun-grabbing\u201d Democrats have taken power.<\/p>\n<p>As we\u2019ll 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.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"link-1\"><strong>The Gun Control Bipartisan Status Quo<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Despite their 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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lindsay Graham:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The South Carolina senator already introduced a red flag\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/articles\/emergency-gun-confiscation-may-be-easy-target-in-new-congress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bill<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year. With the 116<sup>th\u00a0<\/sup>Congress right around the corner, Graham will likely reach across the aisle with Democrat colleagues to move red flag legislation forward. Graham has\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/articles\/emergency-gun-confiscation-may-be-easy-target-in-new-congress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">opined<\/a>\u00a0that red flag legislation is the \u201cplace where we begin a long-overdue discussion about firearms and mental health. But we must start.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Marco Rubio:<\/strong>\u00a0Following the Parkland shootings, Rubio joined the gun control chorus by sponsoring a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/115th-congress\/senate-bill\/2607\/cosponsors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">red flag\u00a0<\/a>bill along with Democrat Senators Joe Manchin, Bill Nelson, &amp; Jack Reed. Rubio has even flirted with the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/02\/21\/politics\/marco-rubio-gun-town-hall\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">idea<\/a>\u00a0of regulations on magazine clips, raising the minimum age to buy certain firearms like AR-15s, and tweaking the current background check system.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mitt Romney:<\/strong>\u00a0The incoming Utah senator has an anti-gun record as governor of Massachusetts. As governor, Romney signed an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2012\/07\/mitt-romneys-stance-on-gun-control-078767\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">assault weapons ban<\/a>\u00a0into 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\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/2008election.procon.org\/view.resource.php?resourceID=001674#romney\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">expressed<\/a>\u00a0that he does not \u201csupport any new gun laws including any new ban on semi-automatic firearms.\u201d Nevertheless, the fallout from the recent Parkland shooting has made Romney\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/02\/17\/politics\/romney-gun-measures\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reconsider<\/a>\u00a0the validity of enhanced background checks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rick Scott:<\/strong>\u00a0Former governor of Florida and Florida\u2019s new senator, Rick Scott, poses an interesting threat to gun rights. Despite his ostensibly pro-gun\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2018\/jun\/10\/rick-scott-holds-firm-to-gun-rights-in-senate-camp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rhetoric<\/a>, Scott signed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flsenate.gov\/Session\/Bill\/2018\/7026\/BillText\/er\/PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SB 7026<\/a>,\u00a0Florida\u2019s most expansive gun control measure in recent history. Pressured by the outrage over the Parkland School shooting, Scott\u2019s SB 7026\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tampabay.com\/florida-politics\/buzz\/2018\/03\/09\/gov-rick-scott-signs-gun-school-security-legislation-over-nra-opposition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contains<\/a>\u00a0red flag provisions, raises the age to buy a firearm to 21, and imposes a three-day waiting period for all firearms purchases.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Trump Administration:\u00a0<\/strong>Even the executive branch is joining in on the red flag craze. The Trump Administration\u2019s Commission on School Safety recently\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefings-statements\/president-donald-j-trump-committed-making-schools-safer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">released<\/a>\u00a0a report recommending red flag laws as a means to \u201caddress school safety and violence.\u201d It\u2019s only a matter of time before legislation is introduced in either chamber of Congress now that the Trump administration has endorsed red flag laws.<\/p>\n<p>Even\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wamu.org\/story\/18\/10\/01\/maryland-tightens-gun-control-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Larry Hogan<\/a>, 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\u2019s red flag law went into effect, there were\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/news\/maryland\/bs-md-red-flag-law-requests-20181114-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">114<\/a>\u00a0requests to confiscate individuals\u2019 firearms.<\/p>\n<p>Maryland\u2019s red flag law has not been without its fair share of controversy. At 5 am on Monday, November 5, two police officers came knocking on 61-year-old Gary Willis\u2019 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\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/news\/maryland\/crime\/bs-md-aa-police-shooting-names-20181106-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">killed<\/a>\u00a0Willis in a struggle that ensued. Quick to defend one of his own, Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare defended the cops\u2019 action by callously\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.capitalgazette.com\/news\/for_the_record\/ac-cn-red-flag-folo-1106-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">claiming<\/a>\u00a0they \u201cdid the best they could with the situation they had.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"link-2\"><strong>Anti-Gun Ideology is Growing<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The tragic incident in Maryland is an ominous sign of what is to come should red flag laws gain more traction.<\/p>\n<p>Whether or not Republicans will support congressional iterations of red flag laws is anyone\u2019s guess. The bigger problem at hand is an ideological one. When society\u2019s 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\u2019s back.<\/p>\n<p>More than a century\u2019s worth of Progressivism has normalized\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mises.org\/wire\/self-determination-not-universalism-goal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">universalist ideas<\/a>\u00a0such 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 \u201csell out\u201d or betray their movement.<\/p>\n<p>This, however, ignores how\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mises.org\/library\/trouble-conservatives\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">selling out<\/a>\u2014rubber stamping big government, embracing globalism, and embarking on nation-building\u2014has been the standard operating procedure for many conservatives throughout the last century. Gun rights will be no different.<\/p>\n<p>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 four years, is the best way to secure their gun rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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. \u2014 Published with Permission of Mises.org \u2014 Is gun confiscation coming to Congress? The 2018 midterm elections produced a\u00a0split Congress\u00a0with Democrats gaining control of the House and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":255,"featured_media":8472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[829,825,428,815,25],"class_list":["post-8469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-gun-confiscation","tag-gun-owners","tag-gun-rights","tag-red-flag-laws","tag-second-amendment","cat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8469"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17035,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8469\/revisions\/17035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}