Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) seeks to incentivize states to adopt Red Flag Laws allowing gun confiscation.
On Saturday, Breitbart News reported that Graham had given Democrats a green light for a March 26 hearing on the confiscatory gun laws. He told CNN that the gun confiscation laws represent a place where Republicans and Democrats “can come together.”
Red Flag Laws–which already exist in California, Florida, Illinois, and other states–allow family members, police, and others, in some instances, to petition a court to have firearms confiscated from an individual. The Red Flag Law in California failed to stop the November 7, 2018, Borderline Bar & Grill shooting, which killed 12 innocents. The law in Florida failed to stop the August 26, 2018, Jacksonville Landing shooting and the January 23, 2019, SunTrust Bank shooting. A total of eight innocents were killed in those two incidents. The Red Flag Law in Illinois failed to stop the February 15, 2019, Henry Pratt Company shooting–and myriad other shootings on the South Side of Chicago–but the laws are still being pushed as solutionary. And Graham wants to incentivize other states to adopt such laws.
Graham told CNN, “What we’re going to do is get people from the country, Arizona has one now and see how they work and see if we can incentivize states to pass legislation to allow police to intervene with family members or police officers are becoming a danger to self or others.” He did not say how the incentives would work or clarify whether they would be financial in nature.
While Red Flag Laws fail to stop determined attackers, Townhall notes that they pose a threat to law-abiding citizens who may be dealing with a disgruntled ex-boyfriend or girlfriend.
Townhall provides the following example:
Say a woman dates a man. He’s a gun enthusiast who enjoys going to the gun range and taking part in the shooting sports, like trap and skeet. It’s something he does on the weekend with friends and as a social activity. The woman knows this about her now ex-boyfriend. She wants to get back at him so she reports him to the police, saying she fears for her life. Based on that accusation alone, police can go to a judge, at which point the judge can order the police to confiscate the man’s firearms. He has no say in it. And no chance to defend himself.
Maryland also has a Red Flag Law. On November 11, 2018, Breitbart News reported that Anne Arundel County police chief Timothy Altomare and other officers went to a home at 5 a.m. to confiscation firearms. The homeowner grabbed a gun when he realized the officers were there to take his firearms. A physical altercation over the gun ensued and the homeowner was shot dead.
The Capital Gazette quoted Chief Altomare saying the officers who went to confiscate guns “did the best they could with the situation they had.” He added, “It’s tough for us to say ‘Well, what did we prevent?’ Because we don’t know what we prevented or could’ve prevented. What would’ve happened if we didn’t go there at 5 a.m.?”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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