The Michigan Democratic-led House and Senate has passed “red flag” gun laws (Extreme Risk Protection Order [ERPO] legislation) so that they can illegally seize guns owned by Michiganders who others have deemed to be a threat. The legislation now heads to the desk of gun-hating Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
The Democrats have been passing progressive laws since they got into power in January including earlier gun legislation concerning safe storage of guns and background checks.
Now, they want roommates and family members (and others) to be able to turn someone in who has a gun because they think the gun owner is a threat to themselves or others.
Does the gun owner get due process? No the guns are taken. And THEN they can go to court to get their guns back – if they ask to.
The Democrats don’t actually believe in the Constitution so this news is not shocking to anyone. Neither is the fact that they used the school shooting at Michigan State University to get their gun bills passed. What was it that Rahm Emanuel said? “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.”
Nineteen other states have “red flag” laws put in place as well, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which advocates for new restrictions to combat gun violence.
Unfortunately for the Governor and the rest of the Democrats, many Michigan law enforcement officers don’t intend to follow the unconstitutional red flag law.
Livingston County Sheriff Michael J. Murphy says, “If the laws pass in their current state, my office will not enforce red flag laws, it’s just that simple.” He also said, “The 200,000 people in this county, not all of them of course, but the majority of them don’t want our resources spent enforcing things that are going to end up being unconstitutional.”
The Livingston County Board of Commissioners has also declared their county to be a “sanctuary county” as it relates to encouraging the respecting the “right to bear arms.”
Presque Isle Sheriff Joe Brewbaker said in a statement, “These laws trample all over the Constitutional rights of the people that I’ve sworn to protect.”
A Bridge Michigan [1] article in March said that there are “At least 53 mostly rural counties (who) adopted resolutions to declare themselves a “Second Amendment Sanctuary [2]” or to explicitly support constitutional rights including the right to bear arms.”
Under the list of people who can request an extreme risk protection order, it includes: spouse, former spouse, individual who has a child in common with the gun owner, someone who is dating the gun owner, a roommate, parent, son or daughter, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt or uncle, first cousin, guardian, health care provider, physician, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, certified nurse specialist, sheriff’s department, department of state police, police department, public safety department of an institution of higher education, the public safety department of a college or a mental health professional.
Does this “petitioner” get checked out? Maybe have someone look at their criminal background, previous incarceration history, or see if there is a PPO against them? After taking a quick perusal of the legislation, I didn’t see that the petitioner has to submit to any kind of background check.
If the ERPO is issued, the gun owner has 24 hours to surrender their firearms. After the 24 hour period, a law enforcement officer can seize the firearms.
Don’t worry though…after the order is issued, the gun owner can EVENTUALLY request a hearing to get the order rescinded. Hm…I don’t remember the word “eventually” showing up in the Constitution when it talks about due process and our rights. Or the fact that you have to ask in order to have your rights reinstated.
But why stop at guns? What other property does the Democrats want to illegally confiscate? Maybe our gas-guzzling SUVs? Or maybe they want to stop us from voting? I’m sure we all know THAT is probably coming soon – tying the right to vote to whether or not you’ve ever received an ERPO.