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Let me be clear about the gun control legislation currently working its way through the Senate: I’ll be voting NO if & when this bill comes up for a vote in the House of Representatives soon.

I don’t care who in the Senate is supporting it. The way this bill handles red-flag laws (among other things) is inappropriate and will NOT have my support. Many people ask me, “What will it take for you to support red flag laws?” I’ve covered this issue before, and here’s my answer:

🚩 Show me a Red Flag proposal that doesn’t infringe upon due process. Specifically, someone’s right to appear before a judge, with counsel, BEFORE her 2nd Amendment rights are stripped away.

🚩 Show me a Red Flag proposal that has protections in place to prevent it from being used for harassment, or triggered by a false accusation.

🚩 Show me a Red Flag proposal that won’t be triggered by someone’s LAWFUL exercise of their 1st Amendment (freedom of speech) rights.

🚩 Show me a Red Flag proposal that won’t cost law abiding citizens thousands of dollars in legal fees to challenge if they believe they have been wrongfully targeted.

🚩 Show me a Red Flag proposal that has the majority support of our law enforcement community, who would be the ones knocking on doors to take away someone’s firearms.

🚩 Show me a Red Flag process that begins with a qualified medical professional certifying that the individual in question “poses a threat to themselves or others.” Then explain to me why a gun-grab is the initial response to that, instead of an involuntary commitment to provide that individual with help.

I’ve got other problems with this bill both on substance and on financing. But the bottom line is if this bill is going to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to states who wish to implement their own red flag laws, then there need to be guardrails in place for the protection of due process, as I’ve outlined above. Absent those, it’s a hard NO for me.