Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday he has a bipartisan deal to push states to pass Red Flag Laws. He’s writing it up with the dishonest totalitarian Sen. Richard Blumenthal. That does not inspire confidence.
The idea of taking guns away from dangerous people is one everyone can get behind, but the bill passing in states — 21 so far — take them away without notice — no due process. And how do they define dangerous?
The deal will offer grants to law enforcement to hire professionals to try to decide cases where guns should be taken from troubled individuals.
Who are these professionals?
Almost anyone can recommend a person’s guns should be taken away. Are there controls.
Graham said the President is supportive. In the past, the President said he wants due process included.
Under a red flag law, potentially dangerous individuals can be reported by family or others, and local officials then determine whether there is cause to temporarily remove firearms the person may have.
Getting the weapons back would be burdensome and expensive, and in most cases it’s final and it doesn’t include due process.
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Mr. Graham said he and Mr. Blumenthal will introduce national red flag grant legislation “in the very near future.”
“I think that Republicans know they can’t do nothing any longer. Republicans know they can’t go into 2020 exposed on the issue of guns like they were in 2018,” said Sen. Chris Murphy. “I don’t think red flags law are sufficient from a policy perspective or a political perspective. They’re diversionary.”
“We are literally talking about provisions that result in people’s guns being taken away,” said Democratic Sen. Chris Coons. “You would think in this environment that would be something nobody would want to talk about in the other party.”
Rep. Mark Meadows, chair of the House Freedom Caucus, said his group could get behind the bill if it contains appropriate due process protections. “I do think there may be a sweet spot,” he said.
The National Rifle Association has expressed support in principle for red flag laws, but in practice, it has opposed the laws when they have been proposed at the state level.
“Obviously they see some writing on the wall that this is a popular policy, and that itself is telling,” said Jonas Oransky, legal director at gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety [Bloomberg’s group].
The big question is how far the legislation goes in compelling states to adopt ERPO laws. Blumenthal compared the possibilities to Congress using transportation funding to strong-arm the states into adopting highway speed limits. Graham implied he would take a lighter touch, using grants to financially reward states for passing ERPO laws proactively.
So far, it’s too vague to support or not support. We have questions: who defines “dangerous,” who are these “professionals” who decide to take the guns, what are the controls on referring people, what happens to the guns, what is the process to get it/them back, and what about due process? This is an inherent right we are talking about.
Graham said Republicans realize they can no longer do anything. We take exception to that phrasing. Democrats refuse to compromise in general. There are two sides to this coin.
What comes next when this bill does nothing to stop these mass shootings?
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