All Flags, No Fix: Michigan’s Real Public Safety Problem

Sorry, Michiganders, but the state has developed a serious problem with crime and consequences. One that for decades now has been disguised as a problem with firearms or firearm law. When horrific crimes occur, the reflex by anti-gun politicians has been to propose or expand gun control laws. Responding to tragic shootings by imposing more restrictions on law-abiding citizens, rather than confronting serious and uncomfortable truths about its justice system, means rights are bargained away along with the common sense to punish criminals.

Following the horrific murders of five people in Northern Michigan earlier this month, an article appeared in The Detroit News headlined, “Missaukee Co. shooting shows red flag law loopholes need closing, Benson says.” Michigan gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson was quoted as saying that “the shooting highlighted the importance of ‘closing loopholes’ to ensure abusers' firearms are relinquished under the state's red flag law.” Unless “closing loopholes” means actual enforcement of existing criminal laws, the statement has little to do with reality.

Also, during her remarks, Benson called for better training for law enforcement, challenging legal immunity protections for gun manufacturers, and bolstering the state's red flag policy. A predictably tone-deaf statement to the fact that the emerging facts in this unfortunate case raise very different questions about gun control. The same questions persist as have for decades and serve as a central point for NRA’s work on crime control: what good is yet another gun control law when the criminal justice system continually fails to implement or enforce laws and penalties already available?

The northern Michigan assailant had a documented history of violent behavior. In prior criminal proceedings for serious and violent offenses, including felonies, charges were ultimately dismissed or pled down to lesser misdemeanors to include fourth degree child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

“Red flag” laws never were and can never be the answer to violent crime. They are fundamentally flawed in their application beyond the fact they are an extreme abridgement to due process. “Red flag” laws focus narrowly on firearms and not the individual’s dangerous conduct itself creating an illusion that a threat has been addressed when it merely works to deprive a person of one potential means of harm.

Treating firearm seizures as a substitute for punishing past violence is a reckless effort by politicians. And when prosecutors continually dismiss or reduce serious charges, consequences that might otherwise flow from a felony conviction can disappear with them. The Michigan tragedy should force a meaningful discussion to the forefront rather than pretend that “red flag” laws can somehow compensate for repeated failures in the criminal justice system.

If an individual is accused of serious violent conduct repeatedly but continues to emerge from arrest and criminal proceedings without convictions or restrictions that existing law could have imposed, any sane person knows that yet another layer of gun control procedures does nothing to address the person’s continued volatility. The problem is not that the state of Michigan somehow lacked another law capable of taking a person’s firearms, it is whether authorities have the willingness to prioritize effective use of the considerable legal tools already available.

This distinction matters when politicians like Jocelyn Benson cite tragedy as “evidence” that Michigan additional gun control laws. NRA-ILA has consistently reported on Michigan “red flag” laws consistently. This is evidence that Michigan needs better leaders:

 NRA-ILA | Michigan Red Flag Report Sheds Light on Confiscation Orders in Practice.

NRA-ILA | Michigan: Governor Re-Ups Gun Violence Commission.

NRA-ILA | Michigan: Governor’s New Budget Includes $2.6 Million for Red-Flag Laws.

Leadership should be focused on scrutinizing prosecutorial capacity, charging documents, plea agreements, sentencing guidelines, and enforcement opportunities before declaring that the answer to another horrific crime is more restrictions on people who have committed no crime at all. NRA has said it time and time again that leaders should be focused on what actually keeps citizens safe: holding dangerous offenders accountable and fixing failures within the criminal justice system and not expanding government oversight through “red flag” laws that repeatedly fail to deliver the public-safety solution that have been and will continue to be promised.