So, many of you saw that my state of Maryland killed a man over the red flag legislation.
That's what happens. Law is deadly force. Don't pass a law, legislators, unless you are fine with someone getting killed over it. And now someone, predictably, has.
One of 114 'warrants' served for this sort of thing. Someone goes "Hey so and so over there is kinda iffy, better take his guns away." One in 114 times that someone gets killed for it. So far. It's only been around for 40 days or so. Started being enforceable 1 October. That means more than one a day.
So, what does it take to get your doorbell rung at 6 AM?
Can Shannon Watts, who doesn't know me from Adam's off ox, read my Twitter and do "this guy likes that Sharp as a Marble's guitar tweets too much. Kinda scary. I better have the Maryland State police raid his house."
Can my liberal ex-wife, whom I haven't seen in person in a handful of years and still remain civil with on social media get a hair and send the police after me? She doesn't like how I vote, and she KNOWS I have a Springfield 1903. She's seen that. She has heard rumors I might have more. Can she have Maryland come kill me?
Or does it have to be more official than that. Hospital records of me acting erratically, my physician worried about me enough to drop a dime, police interaction for noise complaints, that bad habit of shooting a shotgun into the night sky on New Years...
The fact the state seems to be working through a list to get those 114 by November 5th means these folks raided were probably all 'know to law enforcement' and the cops were just waiting to start a round up.
Who, though? Someone has to be accountable. Someone has to decide "this threat is credible, go get the guns" and "this threat is not credible, leave T-Bolt alone." Some person or set of people are the ones that can decide. SOMEONE has to be ACCOUNTABLE. Who is the decider? The execrable Brian Frosh, our AG?
This can't be constitutional, as written? I mean, I am sorta FOR Red Flag laws, but with proper accountability safeguards. And Brian Frosh is not it.
Lemme check.
Well. Not full adjudication. Just partial. A judge is involved. Shannon Watts could petition the court, and remain anonymous, and would have to state she is related to me, dating me, dated me, or lived in the same place as me in the past year. Or be a cop or doctor. Then I would have to have a hearing scheduled within 14 days where I could lay out my side. But I've dated lots of folks. And if they won't tell me who my accuser is how can I claim I never dated Shannon?
Good thing she thinks my name is Thunderbolt, huh? Plus she can get cited for perjury if she lies about anything in the petition.
But I've dated lots of liberal women in my youth. And to them I was usually a selfish and inconsiderate lover. And they know my last name. That could come back to haunt me.
Every law, from traffic rules about stop signs, to tax codes, to laws against violent crime, are enforced by men with guns. If a law is passed and someone chooses to not comply hard enough, they will be killed.
ReplyDelete"Red flag laws" particularly MD's are more about silencing gun owners in the state and keeping their culture "in the shadows" than anything about safety. There's a huge chilling effect on free speech and free association as a result of these laws.
ReplyDeleteThey're essentially an end around all normal constitutional protections. You have no right to face your accuser, nor do you have to be arrested or have any actual charges brought against you.
The onus is on you to prove you are stable enough to get your property returned after the state takes it from you, which turns due process on it's head. And good luck with that, because Judges are going to rubberstamp these things just to cover their own asses.
Red flag laws will morph. Eventually, a prescription for anti-depressants 30 years ago will be enough.
ReplyDeleteGood luck trying to get your guns returned. Most places that think this sort of thing is just peachy will not return them. Kiss them goodby.
ReplyDeleteThe big question is what happens when the cops start dying? Or families die when they hit a home at 0'dark-30? Nothing good will come of this stupidity. The potential bad will far outweigh any imagined good.
Is the actual bad blood that will develop between the cops and the public an intended result? Is this intended to further push them into the bureaucrats/politicians tent?