Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Michigan Police Officials Express Concern, Skepticism Over “Red Flag” Enforcement

Monday, October 9, 2023

Michigan Police Officials Express Concern, Skepticism Over “Red Flag” Enforcement

So-called “red flag laws” have become a recent favorite of gun control activists, who portray them as a way to keep firearms out of “dangerous hands.” The laws empower judges to issue case-by-case firearm prohibition and confiscation orders, upon a petitioner’s showing that the respondent of the order poses a danger to themselves or others. The concept has at times held superficial appeal even to those who might normally support Second Amendment rights. But it’s constitutionality and efficacy wilt under close, critical scrutiny, which is why the NRA opposes the concept. Last week, an unusually revealing article by Bridge Michigan, an independent news source from the Wolverine State, brought another critical voice to the debate: that of the police who will actually be tasked with executing the orders. Entitled “Michigan police agencies sweating enforcement of 'red flag' gun laws,” it vividly underscores the difference between theory and practice when it comes to gun control.

Among the officials quoted in the article is Robert Stevenson, executive director of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police. He said he supports the idea that people who are “not mentally balanced” should not have firearms, but he is concerned with the practicalities of how police will enforce Michigan’s new red flag law, which takes effect next spring. Stevenson offered several scenarios in which the supposedly “lifesaving” law could itself pose lethal risks.

As he explained to Bridge Michigan:

What happens if the person with the order tries to hurt the officers? What if the person who was deemed suicidal becomes overwhelmed and still poses harm to themselves when their guns are being seized? What if the individual with an order has to be detained by force or even be killed, due to the threat they pose?

From the citizen’s perspective, Stevenson said, it could be a case of: “We’re trying to save somebody in the family. We went to the police to save them, and they killed them.”

The legislator who spearheaded Michigan’s red flag effort, Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), claimed to Bridge Michigan she “studied the laws in other states, such as California and Florida” and “found no instances of a gun being fired during a seizure of weapons.”

Sen. McMorrow’s research, however, was seriously flawed.  

A simple Internet inquiry should have revealed to her that Gary J. Willis, a 61-year-old African American man, was killed by police in Anne Arundel, Md., as they attempted to retrieve his firearm under a red flag order shortly after 5:00 a.m. on Nov. 5, 2018. Willis’s wife, Dolly, was also home at the time. Police claim that Willis became increasingly agitated as officers explained the requirements of the order to him and that he reached for the gun after he had voluntarily set it aside at their request. Willis died on the scene after being shot at least five times by police. A Baltimore Sun article quoted the local police chief as saying the execution of red flag orders involves, by definition, “a tense, dangerous situation,” one he would prefer to be handled by SWAT teams.

Gun control advocates like to claim any intrusion on constitutional rights is justified, if it “could save just one life.” Apparently, however, they don’t hold themselves to that same standard when promoting policies that themselves pose lethal risks.

Also expressing skepticism of the red flag concept to Bridge Michigan was Matt Saxton, the executive director of the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association. Sexton said his “organization was never asked to comment on conversations of how to enforce the new law.” He described being “left in the dark, not sure what to strategize for and what to envision when [the new law] takes effect.” It appeared to him that localities would be left to figure out the logistics of implementation on their own, perhaps in collaboration with each other. Sexton told Bridge Michigan “he doesn’t believe that extreme risk protection [i.e., red flag] laws are the best laws that could be passed,” but he hopes for the best.

No wonder that the most consistent experience states have when passing red flag laws is to later discover they are little known, little utilized, and don’t live up to their billing as a game-changing way to prevent “gun violence.”

A Duke University sociologist who studies red flag laws and their effects told PBS, “It’s too small a pebble to make a ripple. … It’s as if the law doesn’t exist.”  

When a law is almost universally treated as if it doesn’t exist, it may be because it should have never existed in the first place. Disuse, indeed, might be the best that could be hoped for when it comes to red flag laws.

TRENDING NOW
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Strikes Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License Requirement in NRA-Backed Case.

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Strikes Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License Requirement in NRA-Backed Case.

On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals ruled that Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License (“HQL”) requirement is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. 

Federal Judge in Colorado Insists There is No Second Amendment Right to Buy a Gun

News  

Monday, November 20, 2023

Federal Judge in Colorado Insists There is No Second Amendment Right to Buy a Gun

Honest people can disagree with the Founders’ decision to enshrine the Second Amendment within the Bill of Rights. They cannot, however, pretend that decision never happened. For much of the 20th Century, however, gun control activists ...

SCOTUS Bruen Decision (Unsurprisingly) Popular with American People

News  

Monday, November 20, 2023

SCOTUS Bruen Decision (Unsurprisingly) Popular with American People

When the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) released its decision last year in the landmark New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen case, anti-gun extremist organizations had a collective conniption ...

Seventh Circuit Strains to Uphold Illinois’ Gun and Magazine Ban

News  

Monday, November 13, 2023

Seventh Circuit Strains to Uphold Illinois’ Gun and Magazine Ban

At this point, gun owners and other productive Americans don’t anticipate much good news out of Chicago. On November 3, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit lived up to those expectations when it upheld Illinois’ ...

Following Terrorist Attack, Israel Relaxes Gun Laws and Arms Civilians

News  

Monday, October 16, 2023

Following Terrorist Attack, Israel Relaxes Gun Laws and Arms Civilians

Following an unprecedented terrorist attack on civilians that indiscriminately targeted even the elderly, women, and children, Israel has loosened its gun laws and is distributing firearms to civilians. As of press time, the number of victims killed in ...

Canadians on Canada’s Gun Control Measures: Expensive, Ineffective, Political Posturing

News  

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Canadians on Canada’s Gun Control Measures: Expensive, Ineffective, Political Posturing

More than three years have passed since Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban and mandatory confiscation (“buyback”) of what he called “military grade assault weapons,” which was followed by a national handgun “freeze” ...

Massachusetts: Major Gun Hearing on Tuesday

Monday, November 27, 2023

Massachusetts: Major Gun Hearing on Tuesday

Tomorrow, November 28th, the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security will be holding a public hearing at 11:00 AM, to discuss numerous bills pertaining to firearm laws in the state.  

Update: Gun Free Zones Ordinance on Agenda for the Nov 28 Kearney City Council Meeting

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Update: Gun Free Zones Ordinance on Agenda for the Nov 28 Kearney City Council Meeting

On Tuesday, November 28th, the Kearney City Council meeting will have the “gun-free zone” ordinance on the agenda after facing significant public outcry since its passage. Recently, the Kearney City Council attempted to follow in ...

Two More Extreme Gun Control Agenda Items Surface for 2024: Expanding Red Flag Law & Shredding the New Mexico Constitution

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Two More Extreme Gun Control Agenda Items Surface for 2024: Expanding Red Flag Law & Shredding the New Mexico Constitution

Since the 2023 New Mexico legislative session concluded back in March, NRA-ILA has warned gun owners that the same attacks we saw then on the Second Amendment would continue during the upcoming session in January, ...

Supreme Court Accepts NRA First Amendment Case – A “Historic Step Forward” for the NRA and Free Speech

News  

Second Amendment  

Friday, November 3, 2023

Supreme Court Accepts NRA First Amendment Case – A “Historic Step Forward” for the NRA and Free Speech

The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) commented today on the United States Supreme Court accepting National Rifle Association of America v. Maria T. Vullo for review. The decision is a landmark development in one ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.