Democrats Keep Pushing to Eliminate American's Due Process Rights, Extreme Risk Protection Orders

Everyone wants to stop dangerous people from getting guns. To some, the obvious solution lies in Red Flag laws, also called Extreme Risk Protection Orders, that enable easy confiscation. The expansion of entitlements bill before Congress already contains $2.5 billion in incentives for states to adopt these laws, but the House Judiciary Committee, of which one of the authors is a member, will vote on a federal bill on Wednesday.

The votes will be along party lines, but it isn’t as if Democrats care about stopping violence and Republicans don’t. You would never know this from the media coverage, but the opposite is true.

All states and the federal government already have laws on the books that deal with people who are a danger to themselves or others. These laws are commonly known as Baker Act statutes, though they go by different names in different states. They allow police, doctors, and family members to have someone held for a 72-hour mental health examination based upon a simple reasonableness test – merely an educated guess or hunch.

These laws focus on mental illness, and they require that mental healthcare experts evaluate the individual. If a person can’t afford a lawyer, a public defender is provided. While judges can choose to involuntarily commit individuals who they believe are dangers to themselves or others, there is a broad range of other, less extreme options that involve monitoring or mental care.