Editorial: Red Flag Laws


Red Flag Laws
I don’t normally use this blog as a platform for my political voice, but Red Flag laws cover more than guns and are more dangerous than you think.

Dangerous, Red Flag


Political Voice On.

Red Flag laws seem to be the liberal media’s darling right now.  In my honest opinion they should scare the hell out of any free person in the world and especially Americans.

My main concern is not about seizing property.  It’s about case law creep.  Case law is formed when a judge decides some aspect or application of a law covers some issue the law did not address.  A very crude example might be a law against drunk driving.  Assume the law only mentions alcohol.  If you’re stoned on pot and driving, a judge might decide that since alcohol is an intoxicant, the law really covers any intoxicant and allows your case to go forward.  That sets a precedent and the police now have another law to use against intoxicated drivers.

Proposed Red Flag laws address antisocial behavior that the community thinks is a threat.  This is currently aimed at guns, but it is only a short step to other ‘dangerous’ weapons.  One has to wonder if where this will lead.

For example, my neighbor’s wife is a nice person who thinks one gun is too many and why does anyone need a pocket knife.  Could she call the Red Flag Police (RFP) and complain:
“I don’t know about my neighbor.  He has so many guns and he’s always disappearing entire days with them.  I don’t know where he goes with them or what he does.  And then he’s always taking them into his garage behind closed doors.  He does the same thing with knives.  Always taking pictures of them.  It’s creepy.  I have children at home and I’m concerned for their safety.”

If the RFP checks my social media they will learn I support knife rights, believe in the Second Amendment, reload ammunition and have a degree in chemistry.  Would they jump to the conclusion that I understand explosives, poisons and God knows what else?  Surely, they assume, this person could be up to something.  Better bring ‘em in for a talking.

And you.  Do you belong to a knife club?  Travel to meetings with other knife owners?  Cross state lines while you’re doing this?  Do you show off these knives to co-workers and friends in a subtle attempt to influence or intimidate them?  Do you own ‘illegal’ knives, like a Bowie or dirk?  Do you ever argue with your boss?  Maybe you post or repost non-complimentary remarks about elected officials or political appointees?  That sounds suspicious to me.  You might be in line in front of me at RFP HQ.

How soon before a city, company or homeowners association decides they can solve a problem with a Red Flag law case law?  You can almost write the script for the movie of the week.

Alert the police to some nefarious plan person X must be harboring based on an unmowed lawn filled with weeds, or complaints about the bosses at work on social media, or the number of beer cans in your recycle bin.  Anything that can be twisted to fit outside the local norm could be grounds for a hearing.  The RFP must investigate, because if there is truly a problem and they don’t act, guess who’s out of work, being sued and crucified in the media for months if not years.

Person X finds himself in front of a hired gun psychologist whose job is to determine if he has socially dangerous tendencies and would act on them.  Having been hauled away by police, forced to meet with someone you’ve never met to discuss problems you’re ignorant off, how do you think you’ll come off? 

And if he does find you have anger issues and harbor resentment against society what will they do with you.  Prison?  You haven’t really broken any laws, just be found to have the potential to break laws.  This sounds like pre-crime intervention.

Will you end up in a camp attending sessions with a ‘doctor’ or forcibly given drugs to help you overcome these antisocial tendencies?  Don’t forget we isolated the Japanese in California during WWII for their own protection.  Most of them never got their property back.

Will your property be seized to pay for your reeducation?  You’ll lose your job because you can’t show up for it.  Maybe your children and spouse need to be watched too.  After all, some behavior is learned.

Don’t tell me this is paranoia.  The Gestapo in Holland used to show up mid-morning with a legal warrant for your questioning and politely escort you to headquarters.  It would be rare if you were ever seen again.  The wrong word to Stalin’s NKVD could make your entire community disappear.  People will do horrible things under the flag of law.  Saloth Sar, or as we known him Pol Pot, killed 1.5 to 2 million Cambodians to create a purer form of government.

Even if this is all nonsense, Red Flag laws allow the police to legally seize your property for some period of time.  If you resist the police as they attempt to enforce a legally issued court order, you could end up injured and in jail with another charge. You need to hire a lawyer.  If you get your property back, will it be damaged, abused, or just lost?  You need to hire another lawyer to get restitution.  No matter how it goes, you and America lose.

It is clear that our society has problems, but passing a law that allows the legal system to circumvent your rights is not the way to solve these issues.

Political Voice Off.


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