Republicans and Democrats have come to terms in both the House and the Senate on a gun confiscation package. While they are still negotiating over a number of gun control proposals, Democrats and Republicans have agreed to work together to pass a so-called Red Flag law.
Formally known as the Extreme Risk Protection Order and Violence Prevention Act, this legislation would create a government program to help state and local police confiscate firearms from innocent gun owners. They are innocent because the confiscations would happen without the suspects even being charged with a crime.
This is the biggest threat to the 2nd Amendment that we have ever come up against because it practically eliminates American gun owners' right to due process. And there is a new case in Florida that shows exactly what I mean...
You see, Florida already has a gun confiscation program in place. Under their Red Flag law, if police suspect that a gun owner is dangerous, they can confiscate his/her firearms and then force them to beg a judge to give them their rights back...
Last week, Johnathan Carpenter received a certified letter from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The letter informed Carpenter that his concealed carry permit was being suspended because he committed "acts of domestic violence or acts of repeat violations."
Carpenter thought it was some kind of sick joke. He had absolutely no idea what the letter was talking about. However, state officials told him that only the local Sheriff could get the mistake reversed.
When he showed up at the precinct, he was given a copy of the injunction. It was laughable. Sure, he had the same name as the suspect, but that was it. The real suspect was an accused drug dealer who allegedly threatened his landlord with a gun, but this John Carpenter never lived at the rental address put in the complaint. The court documents listed the suspect as 5' 8", 100 lbs, with a thick head of black hair. The good John Carpenter, however, is 5' 11", over 200 lbs, and completely bald. As if that wasn't enough to prove the mistake, the suspect had tattoos that Carpenter obviously didn't have...
The whole thing was just a case of mistaken identity and should have been easy to clear up. But instead of apologizing for the mistake, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office followed through with the Red Flag order and confiscated his firearms.
Johnathan Carpenter did literally nothing wrong. Anyone with half a brain can tell that he isn't the same John Carpenter suspected of threatening his landlord. But none of that matters. He has been completely disarmed and had his concealed carry permit revoked. Carpenter now has to hire a lawyer, pay all court costs, and then petition the court to get his firearms back. He will have to prove to a judge that he is innocent. If the judge disagrees, then the confiscation order can be extended out to a year.
All of this will happen without Carpenter even being charged with a crime...
The earliest court date he could get is a few weeks from now, but in the meantime, Carpenter is being forced to live without his God-given right to keep and bear arms. And now, instead of the government having to prove he did something wrong, he carries the burden of having to prove his innocence.
This is flagrantly unconstitutional. But under the new "compromise" that was just reached in Congress between Democrats and Republicans, this injustice would go nationwide!
Now that states are experimenting with Red Flag laws on their own, we are seeing just how dangerous they are. In Maryland, a 61-year-old man was killed in his doorway last fall because he refused to hand over his firearms to police. He wasn't mentally ill... he wasn't a criminal... his only mistake was getting into an argument with one of his family members. She reportedly wanted to get even, so she turned him into police to have his guns confiscated.
In our judicial system, the burden of proof is supposed to rest with the government. It is up to prosecutors to convince a judge/jury that someone broke the law. That is because all Americans are supposed to be presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.
But the new Extreme Risk Protection Order bill would turn this entire concept upside-down. Instead of the government having to prove its case, they would be able to use hearsay to take away Americans' guns. This is happening to John Carpenter right now. He was disarmed without any due process and now has to convince a judge he is innocent if he wants his firearms back. Thanks to this Red Flag law, he is presumed guilty until he is proven innocent...
The House of Representatives has scheduled the first vote on their Red Flag bill. In the Senate, Lindsey Graham (R-SC) just announced he has come to terms with Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) on their version of the gun confiscation package. And as if it couldn't get worse, the White House has indicated they would sign the bill into law if it reaches the President's desk.
The GOP wants to push this through as fast as possible before American gun owners are able to rise up and stop them!
You must fight back now!
This is what the GOP is calling a gun control "compromise." Their idea of a "compromise" is that government should have the power to confiscate guns from innocent people.
Leftists have been trying to give government these gun control powers for years. Now, the GOP wants to just hand it over to them...
Now is the time to fight! The first votes have already been scheduled and both parties are trying to whip up enough support for the bills to pass.
If you want to stop this horrible gun confiscation plan from passing, it has to be right now!
Fight back,
Joe Otto
Conservative Daily
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