The usually conservative editorial writer for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette today (4/6/22) came out in favor of red flag laws (Extreme Risk Protection Orders / ERPO), making the statement,
If you can point me to links to the law itself (not news reports) for states with such laws on the books, it would be a great help. Links to any official guidance on the implementing procedures would also be a beneficial.. If you wish to summarize the information along with the links, great.
My idea is to use the argument that due process is followed only when the affected person is given advance notice of the accusation and formal hearing, and allowed to appear with counsel before the judge to face the accuser directly, with absolutely no confiscation possible until that judge has heard all evidence and testimony and issued the confiscation order. Any process that fails that test shows the newspaper's claim to be, shall we say, misinformed.
As to the parenthetical that red flag laws prevent suicides, I think it proper to argue that lack of a firearm will not prevent a suicide; a suicidal individual will find a way. Further if the accuser is claiming need to protect from suicide, there are already extensive laws and procedures in place for commitment to a mental health facility, a much more appropriate suicide prevention tool.
Thanks, all.
I would like to rebut these statements with documented facts, using actual current red flag laws from as many states as possible.Red-flag laws on numerous state levels have enough due process safeguards to keep the neighbors from taking away your guns because you dumped your leaves on their property last fall. (Red-flag laws have the added benefit of being a tool to prevent many suicides.)
If you can point me to links to the law itself (not news reports) for states with such laws on the books, it would be a great help. Links to any official guidance on the implementing procedures would also be a beneficial.. If you wish to summarize the information along with the links, great.
My idea is to use the argument that due process is followed only when the affected person is given advance notice of the accusation and formal hearing, and allowed to appear with counsel before the judge to face the accuser directly, with absolutely no confiscation possible until that judge has heard all evidence and testimony and issued the confiscation order. Any process that fails that test shows the newspaper's claim to be, shall we say, misinformed.
As to the parenthetical that red flag laws prevent suicides, I think it proper to argue that lack of a firearm will not prevent a suicide; a suicidal individual will find a way. Further if the accuser is claiming need to protect from suicide, there are already extensive laws and procedures in place for commitment to a mental health facility, a much more appropriate suicide prevention tool.
Thanks, all.