Democrats showed their lack of interest in gun control laws that address the real source of gun violence this week when they refused to include gang members in “Red Flag” laws. Once again, they proved they are more concerned about protecting the freedom of proven criminals than the 2nd Amendment rights of innocent law-abiding citizens.
Congressman Ken Buck (R-CO) offered an amendment on Sept. 10, 2019, to add some real impact to a proposed bill to create federal grants for “Red Flag” bills in the House of Representatives.
Current “red flag” laws have proven to be mere window dressing for leftists’ veiled attempts to confiscate legally owned guns. Under such current laws, all that is needed to deny the right to gun ownership is an accusation with no presumption of innocence.
For a person to regain their rights once lost under these “red flags” the accused is not presumed innocent as the Constitution requires but rather must “prove they are not a danger.” This can cost an individual thousands of dollars in court costs and attorney’s fees to regain their property.
Representative Buck told his colleagues that most murders and violent crimes involving guns are committed by gang members and Democrats’ refusal to consider his amendment showed the hypocrisy of the Left.
Most gang members offer plenty of probable cause, a standard far more powerful than a simple accusation, for law enforcement to act. But Democrats appear to want citizens against whom law enforcement has no evidence of probable cause to be far more likely to run afoul of the law than any criminal gang member.
Talking with Tucker Carlson, Rep. Buck said he opposed all current “Red Flag” laws, but failure to endorse his amendment took the matter to a new low. Buck said gang members commit over 90% of the crime committed in America but Rep Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and his colleagues don’t seem to care.
Republican Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) further highlighted Democrats’ hypocrisy in their vote to ban all individuals on a “no-fly” list from buying guns. Earlier this year Democrats staged a “sit-in” on the House floor in order to demand people on the “no-fly” list be banned from purchasing guns.
There is no requirement of “probable cause” to be added to the no-fly list nor is any appeal allowed yet Democrats unanimously voted in favor of banning all on that list from purchasing a gun. However, when it comes to violent gang members, if any possibility of being denied due process can be shown they cannot be red flagged.
Buck says this is a serious charge. Democrats want to disarm rural Americans, but not gang members. While guns are concentrated in rural, non-coastal cities in America, the citizens in those areas are far less likely to be involved in criminal activity. Most homicides in America are committed by urban gang members not rural Americans.
Separating law enforcement from gun owners is a long-standing goal of those wishing to disarm the American population. Buck said this lack of action by Democrats is just a further effort to accomplish this.
The American Thinker reports that “Chicago has the equivalent of a mass shooting every weekend.” They report, “If Democrats were serious about using red flag laws to keep guns out if the hands of people who might use them to senselessly murder others and therefore a danger to society, and not just as a gun-control tool to disarm law-abiding citizens, then why did they kill an attempt to use compiled lists of known gang members, which many police departments and law enforcement agencies possess?”
Most of the gun violence in cities like Chicago stem from gang bangers whose criminal activity is fueled by a steady supply of illegal drugs passing through our open borders. In truth, what is called “gun violence” by the mainstream media is gang violence fueled by drug trafficking.
Democrats in the House have shown once again that they care more about furthering their narrative than combating the real problem.
