So called “red flag” laws are sweeping the country and threatening the second amendment rights of citizens everywhere. Ostensibly designed to limit dangerous individuals’ access to firearms, in reality these laws enable authorities to unilaterally decide who can and cannot own guns.
New Mexico is just one of many states that has passed one of these dangerous laws. According to the law, law enforcement and other officials will be able to ask a court to take away the firearms of an individual who is a risk to themselves or others. The danger is that people could make unfounded accusations against others, this will put civilians and law enforcement in danger. An accusation needs to be credible before law enforcement risk their lives to remove the firearms.
The good news is that some of the sheriffs in New Mexico will be refusing to enforce the red flag law. The sheriffs realize that people have a right to self defense and a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Yes these laws are designed with the intent to keep people safe, whether it is from themselves or others. There was a good piece of news out of New Mexico as well. The article also states that evidence must be provided that someone is a threat. This could be a good compromise as long as it is worded properly. This shows that people do realize that the law is vague.
This law can be used for good. Its goal is to protect people. The unintended consequences though it can put law enforcement in unnecessary danger. By having no due process and no evidence to support accusations, people will start to turn on each other out of fear of being reported for no reasons. The good news is that New Mexico is trying to work out a compromise to protect due process and law enforcement, while at the same time trying to get firearms out of the hands of dangerous people. Hopefully the New Mexico state government will work together to come up with a good law.
In today’s rush to stop gun violence many states are passing new gun laws in order to try and stop the gun violence that is happening in our nation. The most common of these gun laws are new red flag laws. These laws are meant with good intentions, but these laws do have unintended consequences that have a negative impact on our nation’s law enforcement. Read more here.
