Sometimes awful people do awful things. This is why I believe in protecting and defending myself, and the ones I love. Every single instance of every single horror does not lead me to a place where I, nor you, should have less rights. But rather, I lean to a place where we should ensure our rights and act upon them. We should be prepared.

After El Paso and Dayton, there will be a lot of conversation about Red Flag Laws, including Indiana’s Jake Laird Law. A Red Flag Law allows for the state authorities to remove firearms from the possession of a person who has been identified as mentally unstable (as the Jake Laird Law has described it, “dangerous individuals.”) My issue has never been with the concept of a Red Flag Law, my issue is how it is implemented.

If implementation means a law enforcement officer can simply say, “this person is unwell, so we are going to take their firearms,” I stand squarely in opposition. I oppose the idea that a police officer should be able to make that call in the moment.

This is something that must be done through a court. The person has to be adjudicated mentally unfit. It should be done with deliberate care and clarity, not in the midst of a confrontation, to then be addressed in the courts at a later date. That is not how rights work. People who accept the latter concept don’t have a good understanding of how our system works.

When President Trump condemned white supremacy this week, the Left and their media subordinates were unsatisfied. The New York Times even changed a headline to shift focus from Trump condemning white supremacy to inaction on gun control. Notice the headline they went with— Assailing Hate But Not Guns. The entirety of the Leftist Media have put out this same missive; “Oh sure, he talks about white supremacy but what is he going to do about the guns??” 

My hope? Nothing.  The Second Amendment remains. That is what is important. That must be the baseline. Horror can not be allowed to change our fundamental rights. We can not fall prey to the mob screaming, “DO SOMETHING!” I am a practitioner of the Second Amendment. I AM DOING SOMETHING!
 
I have no objection to a conversation about Red Flag Laws. We often say we need a conversation, so let’s have that conversation. If we want to go down the road, as serious people, where we can deem someone mentally unfit and strip them (even temporarily) of their Second Amendment rights, we have to ensure it does not violate their right to due process.

A decision as important as this deserves nothing less.