Pirate's Cove

NPR host Ari Shaprio held a round table with a few people, including gun grabber Senator Richard Blumenthal (Dem), into the subject of red-flag laws

(NPR) ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: We begin this hour with a look at President Trump’s first formal policy response to last month’s deadly shooting in Parkland, Fla. He’s created a new commission to make recommendations on school safety. We’ll hear more about that in a moment. He’s also endorsed federal legislation to improve background checks, and he’s renewed his call for letting teachers carry guns and act as volunteer marshals. Gun control advocates generally have slammed the president’s plan, but they do like one piece of it – a push for so-called red-flag protection orders. NPR’s Scott Horsley has details.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Red-flag orders allow police to temporarily take guns away from people who’ve been found by a judge to pose a threat to themselves or others. Connecticut adopted the nation’s first such law nearly two decades ago. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal says it’s worked.

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: The Connecticut experience over the last nearly 20 years has been that these extreme-risk protection orders or red flag really save lives.

HORSLEY: So far, only a handful of states have followed Connecticut’s example – California, Oregon, Washington, Indiana. Florida passed its own red-flag law last week. Now President Trump is urging every state to do so. Kristin Brown of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence says without such laws, police are often powerless to stop a would-be killer like the one at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

KRISTIN BROWN: It’s really a slap in the face – the idea that there were so many signs associated with this individual that should’ve meant that he was not able to possess or purchase firearms.

Um, the thing is, there was zero need for these red-flag protection order laws in the case of nutjobs Nikolas Cruz. There were more than enough things going on that he should have been picked up in the first place, that he should have been denied all gun permits through the NICS background check system.

HORSLEY: Red-flag laws are still controversial, though, with some gun rights advocates.

DUDLEY BROWN: Well, we call it gun-confiscation orders because it’s largely confiscating firearms for people without due process.

HORSLEY: Dudley Brown heads the group Gun Owners of America. People whose guns are taken away do have an opportunity under red-flag laws to challenge the move in court, but Brown insists that should happen before their guns are seized, not after.

BROWN: Otherwise, a family member whose angry at a uncle or ex-boyfriend or something can go to a court and have someone stripped of a constitutional right without ever even knowing it. And we think that’s fraught with danger.

HORSLEY: The NRA did not respond to requests for comment today, but in the past, it’s opposed these laws. Still, some prominent Republicans, including the president, are now speaking out in support of red-flag legislation. Researcher Jeffrey Swanson says that makes sense.

And therein lies the problem: the guns are seized before anyone is allowed to make their case in court. Due Process, as written in the 5th and 14th Amendments, is turned on its head. And they essentially make people guilty until proven innocent. And they can, as mentioned, easily be used to for wrong purposes. And seriously abused. What if government doesn’t like your stance on something? Think that can’t happen? Give government officials a chance with their over-blown sense of power.

Can they be beneficial in stopping threats? Sure. But, we already have plenty of laws where it’s not the guns taken, but the person detained. At that point, a court hearing can occur, and a judge can require that all firearms be taken for a period.