Gun groups ready for aggressive effort against red flag legislation
No-compromise gun rights groups are preparing to mount an aggressive campaign against any red flag legislation in Congress as a response to the elementary school massacre in Uvalde, Texas.
Such measures appear to be gaining some steam as a potential compromise between Democrats and Republicans, but opponents hope to use the same playbook to stop them that proved impactful in the past…
Nine states currently have red flag laws, protection orders that allow a court to prevent an individual deemed a danger to themselves or others from possessing or obtaining firearms. Those include New York, where it did not stop a shooter from targeting Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo last month. It is unclear if such a law would have stopped the shooter in Uvalde.
With the shock Uvalde elementary school massacre that left 19 children and two adults dead, a bipartisan group of senators formed in the days after to discuss options for a modest deal on a legislative response.
Background check expansions and provisions to expand state-level red flag laws have emerged as top options. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) previously negotiated a red flag bill in 2018…
Gun rights activists argue that red flag laws violate due process rights and that the system of allowing family members or law enforcement officers to petition for such an order is ripe for abuse.
Second Amendment groups put intense pressure on House Republicans last year to oppose a red flag provision, underscoring the challenge to supporters…
Aidan Johnston, director of federal affairs at Gun Owners of America, called the letter “perhaps the biggest statement by Republicans” to date.
“That is important to the debate today going on over red flag laws, because now they’re firmly on the other side,” Johnston said…
Read more at The Hill