House passes red flag gun legislation in mainly party-line vote
by Mychael Schnell - 06/09/22 11:15 AM ET
The House passed a bill on Thursday to nationalize red flag laws, which seek to keep guns away from individuals deemed a threat to themselves and others.
The legislation, dubbed the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order, passed in a 224-202 vote. Two Republicans did not vote.
Five Republicans — Reps. Fred Upton (Mich.), Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) and Chris Jacobs (N.Y.) — bucked the GOP in voting for the measure, and Democratic Rep. Jared Golden (Maine) broke from the party in opposing the bill.
Passage of the measure came one day after the House cleared a sweeping gun package that, among other provisions, called for raising the minimum age to purchase a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21 and banning civilian use of high-capacity magazine.
Both pieces of legislation were brought up in response to last month’s mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas.
The red flag bill — introduced by Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), whose son died by gun violence in 2012 — would authorize family members and law enforcement officers to petition U.S. district courts to issue federal extreme protection orders that would temporarily prohibit individuals from purchasing or possessing firearms.
Red flag laws already exist in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a companion bill in 2018.
The Senate has been engaged in bipartisan gun negotiations following the pair of mass shootings, but the chamber has not yet introduced any proposals. Red flag laws, however, have emerged as a consensus point among members of both parties.
The orders can either be short-term, lasting for a maximum of 14 days and issued without a hearing, or long-term, remaining in existence for 180 days and requiring a hearing to be issued.
Petitioners must provide evidence that the individual of concern poses an imminent risk to themselves or others by purchasing, possessing or receiving firearms or ammunition. For long-term orders, petitioners must prove that the subject of the measure poses an injury risk to themselves or others through buying, possessing or receiving a firearm or ammunition.
more
https://thehill.com/news/house/3517302-house-passes-red-flag-gun-legislation-in-mainly-party-line-vote/
