Urge your State Lawmakers to OPPOSE Red Flag Gun Grabs
New York-style gun control may be on its way to Pennsylvania, as FOUR similar, so-called “red flag” gun confiscation bills have been introduced in the state legislature.
Pennsylvania Democrats and RINO Republicans have teamed up to assault your constitutional rights.
The four bills and their sponsors are: SB 90 (Killion, R-9); SB 293 (Fontana, D-42); HB 1075 (Stephens, R-151); and HB 1028 (McCarter, D-154).
Here’s what GOA’s Legislative Counsel Michael Hammond has to say about red flag laws like these:
Under these bills, the police or an “angry ex” can petition a judge, requesting that you be stripped of your Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Your accuser will be the ONLY ONE in the room.
They don’t have to demonstrate that you have committed a crime. They don’t have to demonstrate that there is any chance that you will ever commit a crime.
Rather, all they have to show is that you are — subjectively, “dangerous” to someone — and they only have to show the very low legal standard of “preponderance of the evidence.” That’s all it takes for you to be stripped of your constitutional rights.
And it doesn’t end there. We’ve had some experience with “petitions” like this. And, when only the hysterical accuser is present, a pliant judge will normally sign anything that is put before him.
In New Mexico, one judge issued a restraining order against Dave Letterman for supposedly sending coded messages to a New Mexico housewife, by way of her TV set.
So, after the pliant judge has given the okay to a request, you lose your constitutional rights with NO DUE PROCESS. The next thing that happens is that the police arrive at your door in the middle of the night, ready to ransack your house and, if you resist, to arrest or kill you.
If you think this couldn’t happen, you should consider the case of 60-year-old Gary Willis of Ferndale, Maryland, who was shot to death by police serving a “red flag” order at 5:17 a.m. — after he, not unreasonably, came to the door with a gun in his hand.
Sure, you’ll get a hearing in 10 days — where you can hire an attorney for thousands of dollars to try to convince the judge he made a mistake.
Or, your lawyer will be appointed by the court. And he will probably be a public defender with little or no experience and a huge caseload. And he will probably do his best to convince you that relinquishing all of your guns will be the best course of action.
But no matter. In circumstances like these, judges NEVER rule for the gun owner.
Even the ACLU branches in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island have issued memos in opposition to “red flag” laws. The Rhode Island branch offered a 14-page analysis detailing “some serious due process concerns.”
And those who believe late-night confrontations with police are more likely to produce fatal results for minorities might want to lay aside their hatred of guns — and consider where the suspension of due process might lead.
But, if you want to turn Pennsylvania gun ownership into some horrible nightmare, these bills are the vehicle to do just that.
So please take action and urge your state lawmakers to OPPOSE Red Flag Gun Grabs !!
In liberty,
Dr. Val Finnell
Pennsylvania Director
Gun Owners of America
https://gunowners.org/
.
New York-style gun control may be on its way to Pennsylvania, as FOUR similar, so-called “red flag” gun confiscation bills have been introduced in the state legislature.
Pennsylvania Democrats and RINO Republicans have teamed up to assault your constitutional rights.
The four bills and their sponsors are: SB 90 (Killion, R-9); SB 293 (Fontana, D-42); HB 1075 (Stephens, R-151); and HB 1028 (McCarter, D-154).
Here’s what GOA’s Legislative Counsel Michael Hammond has to say about red flag laws like these:
Under these bills, the police or an “angry ex” can petition a judge, requesting that you be stripped of your Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Your accuser will be the ONLY ONE in the room.
They don’t have to demonstrate that you have committed a crime. They don’t have to demonstrate that there is any chance that you will ever commit a crime.
Rather, all they have to show is that you are — subjectively, “dangerous” to someone — and they only have to show the very low legal standard of “preponderance of the evidence.” That’s all it takes for you to be stripped of your constitutional rights.
And it doesn’t end there. We’ve had some experience with “petitions” like this. And, when only the hysterical accuser is present, a pliant judge will normally sign anything that is put before him.
In New Mexico, one judge issued a restraining order against Dave Letterman for supposedly sending coded messages to a New Mexico housewife, by way of her TV set.
So, after the pliant judge has given the okay to a request, you lose your constitutional rights with NO DUE PROCESS. The next thing that happens is that the police arrive at your door in the middle of the night, ready to ransack your house and, if you resist, to arrest or kill you.
If you think this couldn’t happen, you should consider the case of 60-year-old Gary Willis of Ferndale, Maryland, who was shot to death by police serving a “red flag” order at 5:17 a.m. — after he, not unreasonably, came to the door with a gun in his hand.
Sure, you’ll get a hearing in 10 days — where you can hire an attorney for thousands of dollars to try to convince the judge he made a mistake.
Or, your lawyer will be appointed by the court. And he will probably be a public defender with little or no experience and a huge caseload. And he will probably do his best to convince you that relinquishing all of your guns will be the best course of action.
But no matter. In circumstances like these, judges NEVER rule for the gun owner.
Even the ACLU branches in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island have issued memos in opposition to “red flag” laws. The Rhode Island branch offered a 14-page analysis detailing “some serious due process concerns.”
And those who believe late-night confrontations with police are more likely to produce fatal results for minorities might want to lay aside their hatred of guns — and consider where the suspension of due process might lead.
But, if you want to turn Pennsylvania gun ownership into some horrible nightmare, these bills are the vehicle to do just that.
So please take action and urge your state lawmakers to OPPOSE Red Flag Gun Grabs !!
In liberty,
Dr. Val Finnell
Pennsylvania Director
Gun Owners of America
https://gunowners.org/
.
