Patriot,
Campaign for Liberty is battling back against
an onslaught of gun control legislation from BOTH parties.
I've written to you several times about the
threats we're facing, especially with regards to so-called "Red
Flag" Gun Confiscation Orders.
That's why I wanted to share this op-ed
written by Congressman Thomas Massie and John Lott Jr. explaining
how these "Red Flag" laws would just make things worse.
I hope you'll take just a few moments to read
it in full. And then, if you haven't already, please sign your
NO DEALS! NO GUN CONTROL! petition and demand President Trump
and Members of Congress oppose ANY gun control scheme that comes
up for a vote.
www.chooseliberty.org/no-deals-no-gun-control/?sr=c12349668
Please forward this to your friends and
family and encourage them to sign their petition as well!
www.chooseliberty.org/no-deals-no-gun-control/?sr=c12349668
For Liberty,
Ron Paul
Chairman
'Red Flag' Laws Are the Wrong Solution to
Mass Shootings
By Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) & John R. Lott
Jr.
They haven't reduced crimes, and the
potential for misuse is great
Everyone is sick of mass public shootings in
the United States. Enough is enough. Everyone, including us, is
incredibly frustrated.
But let's do something that doesn't make the
problem worse.
With President Trump's endorsement, Senate
Republicans are moving forward with one law that they hope will
help - a so-called "red-flag" law, advancing on the federal level
what are known as "extreme risk protection orders." Ohio's
governor also came out and endorsed such a law for his state
after the attack.
Depending upon the state, anyone from a
family member, intimate partner, or ex to house- or
apartment-mates or a police officer can file a complaint. Under
Colorado's recent law, anyone at all can make a phone call to the
police. They don't even have to be living in the state. There is
no hearing. All the judge has before him is the statement of
concern.
While Trump emphasized mental health in last
week's speech about the Texas and Ohio shootings, red-flag laws
are not specifically about mental illness. Indeed, only one state
law even mentions the term. It's about figuring out who is going
to commit a crime (or suicide). This is the realm of science
fiction, and is the theme of the Tom Cruise movie Minority
Report. At least the Future Crime division in the movie had the
help of psychics.
Seventeen states have now adopted these laws.
Thirteen states passed these laws since Parkland last year.
During the first nine months after Florida
passed its red-flag law last year, judges granted more than 1,000
confiscation orders. In the three months after Maryland's law
went into effect on October 1, more than 300 people had their
guns confiscated. In one case in Arundel County, a 61-year-old
man died when the police stormed his home at 5 a.m. to take away
his guns. Connecticut and Indiana, which have had these laws in
effect for the longest time, have seen increasingly large numbers
of confiscation orders.
Little certainty is needed. Initial
confiscations often require just a "reasonable suspicion," which
is little more than a guess or a hunch. When hearings occur weeks
or a month later, about a third of these initial orders are
overturned, but the actual error rate is undoubtedly much higher.
These laws make no provisions to cover legal costs, and many
people facing these charges do not retain counsel.
These laws let the government take firearms
away from people who are arrested but not convicted of crimes.
Even simple complaints without arrests have been enough. That is
quite a violation of due process, and hopefully the courts will
strike down this provision. Gun-control advocates have resisted
making this rule explicit in the laws, presumably out of fear
that it would create problems in the courts, but presentations
before the State Uniform Law Commission make it clear that these
actions are quite common. Also, courts frequently take into
account other factors, such as gender and age, in predicting the
chances that someone will commit a crime or commit suicide. This
can be seen as a discriminatory practice.
It has always been possible to take away
someone's guns, but all 50 states have required testimony by a
mental-health expert before a judge. Under red-flag laws,
however, expert testimony will no longer be used. Gun-control
advocates argue that it's essential not even to alert the person
that his guns may be taken away. Hence, the 5 a.m. police raids.
When people really pose a clear danger to
themselves or others, they should be confined to a mental-health
facility. Simply denying them the legal right to buy a gun isn't
a serious remedy. If you think you are any more likely to stop
criminals from getting guns than illegal drugs, you are mistaken.
The same drug dealers sell both, and gangs are a major source of
guns. Mentally ill individuals can also use other weapons, such
as cars.
Guns are certainly not the only way for
mentally unstable people to commit suicide. Many substitutes are
as effective. Very effective poisons such as cyanide are readily
available.
These laws may damage trust between people.
In the absence of a red-flag law, a person contemplating homicide
or suicide might speak to a friend or family member and be
dissuaded from that course of action. But now that person may
fear that the authorities will be tipped off. As a result, some
of these individuals may not seek help and instead may go on to
kill themselves or others.
Police are also often depressed on the job,
and it's not right for them to worry that they might lose their
jobs if they share their feelings.
Liberals understand this point when it comes
to something such as AIDS. They know that the threat of
quarantining may discourage infected people from seeking medical
help. But they seem unaware that the threat of early-morning
raids and leaving people defenseless might engender similar
problems.
Despite the sacrifices, the evidence shows no
benefits from red-flag laws. Looking at data from 1970 through
2017, these laws had no significant effect on murder, suicide,
mass-public-shooting fatalities, robbery, aggravated assault, or
burglary. These laws do not save lives.
As a whole, the rest of the world has much
higher murder rates from mass public shootings than does the U.S.
This includes major European countries such as France, Finland,
Russia, and Switzerland. Many of these countries also have much
stricter gun-control laws, including bans on semi-automatic guns.
Everyone wants to stop mass public shooters.
But we haven't previously punished people on the basis of little
more than a hunch, without any specific guidelines in place.
Stopping "future crimes" didn't work in the movies, and it
doesn't work in real life.
Thomas Massie represents Kentucky's fourth
district in the House of Representatives. John R. Lott Jr. is the
president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and the author
of The War on Guns.
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