The Justice Department’s proposal encourages states to take away people’s Second Amendment rights based on little more than bare allegations.
by Jacob Sullum
Reason.com
As President Joe Biden promised in April, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently published model “red flag” legislation that authorizes court orders prohibiting gun possession by people deemed a threat to themselves or others. The proposed language describes a process that is rigged against respondents from beginning to end, allowing courts to strip people of their Second Amendment rights based on little more than bare allegations by potentially mistaken, biased, or malicious petitioners.
Red flag laws, which 19 states and the District of Columbia have enacted, are commonly portrayed as a way to stop mass shootings. The Biden administration has described such legislation as a response to “the gun violence public health epidemic.” Attorney General Merrick Garland likewise declares that “the Justice Department is determined to take concrete steps to reduce the tragic toll of gun violence,” and he says the model red flag legislation is one of those steps.