DOJ Announces National Red Flag Initiative – Check If Your State Is One of the 21 Involved
The U.S. Department of Justice has rolled out a website that it said will better assist people in using existing so-called “red flag” laws to strip their fellow Americans of their gun rights. Such laws are common mostly…
The U.S. Department of Justice has rolled out a website that it said will better assist people in using existing so-called “red flag” laws to strip their fellow Americans of their gun rights.
Such laws are common mostly in states with majority Democratic Party control, but on Saturday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the creation of a new “tool” from the federal government by which people can quickly find resources to assist them in disarming people they feel are dangerous.
The DOJ partnered with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions to create the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center.
The online tool offers links to the 21 states and Washington, D.C. that have “red flag” laws on the books.
Visitors can click on states with red flag laws on their books to find resources to help them expedite using the courts to temporarily or permanently have the lawfully owned firearms of another person seized by police.
States with such laws include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
The center “will provide training and technical assistance to law enforcement officials, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, clinicians, victim service and social service providers, community organizations, and behavioral health professionals responsible for implementing laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of people who pose a threat to themselves or others,” the DOJ said in a news release.
Garland claimed in a statement that the new system will save lives.
“The launch of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center will provide our partners across the country with valuable resources to keep firearms out of the hands of individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others.
“The establishment of the Center is the latest example of the Justice Department’s work to use every tool provided by the landmark Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to protect communities from gun violence.”
Numerous House and SenateRepublicans disagreed with the creation of the center, likening the DOJ’s new initiative to an unconstitutional gun grab:
The DOJ’s new resource center said it is important to compile all data concerning red flag laws in one place because such laws vary “within states and across states.”
The White House celebrated the new website in a Saturday statement and said the 29 states in the country “without red flag laws should enact those laws.”
The Biden administration further claimed red flag laws have “been shown to prevent mass shootings and suicides, but the tools made available under these laws are only effective if people are aware of them.”
The DOJ’s new resource center is funded by the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which pushed for expanded background checks and was strongly supported by Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.