Dems Slip Red Flag Provision Into Military Spending Bill
By Cam Edwards | Sep 23, 2021 5:30 PM ET
While Joe Biden’s anti-gun legislative agenda has stalled out in Congress, the gun control lobby is still looking for ways to infringe on the rights of gun owners, and one of their latest poison pills can be found in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act. On today’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co we’re highlighting what Gun Owners of America is calling a “red flag” gun confiscation provision in the NDAA, and why it must be stripped out of the legislation before a vote is cast.
The military version of the red flag law proposed by Democrats looks a lot like the civilian version found in more than a dozen states. Without being charged or even accused of a crime, a service member could have their right to possess a firearm taken away from them by a military court, and the subject of the red flag order wouldn’t even have a chance to provide any evidence on their behalf for up to 30 days after the court’s order was issued. The authors of the measure audaciously state that this is “sufficient to protect the respondent’s due process rights,” but I doubt many service members would agree.
As well as the obvious concerns over the constitutionality of this proposal, there are fundamental flaws with the measure itself. Just like with the red flag laws in place in states from California to Connecticut, if a person is found (through a lowered standard of review than what is used in a criminal proceeding) to be a danger to themselves or others by a judge, there’s no actual mental health component to the order removing guns. A supposedly dangerous person can be left with knives, pills, poison, gasoline and matches, and any other tool they might use to take their own life or the lives of others as long as any legally-owned guns are taken away. Every state (and the military as well) already have civil commitment laws on the books, and they’re the most appropriate tool to deal with individuals who are truly in the midst of a mental health crisis.
https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2021/09/23/dems-slip-red-flag-provision-into-military-spending-bill-n50265
