At National Review: ‘Red Flag’ Laws Are the Wrong Solution to Mass Shootings

Aug 14, 2019 | Featured

Dr. John Lott and Congressman Thomas Massie have another op-ed out. This one at National Review:

Everyone is sick of mass public shootings in the United States. Enough is enough. Everyone, including us, is incredibly frustrated.

But let’s do something that doesn’t make the problem worse.

With President Trump’s endorsement, Senate Republicans are moving forward with one law that they hope will help — a so-called “red-flag” law, advancing on the federal level what are known as “extreme risk protection orders.” Ohio’s governor also came out and endorsed such a law for his state after the attack.

Depending upon the state, anyone from a family member, intimate partner, or ex to house- or apartment-mates or a police officer can file a complaint. Under Colorado’s recent law, anyone at all can make a phone call to the police. They don’t even have to be living in the state. There is no hearing. All the judge has before him is the statement of concern.

While Trump emphasized mental health in last week’s speech about the Texas and Ohio shootings, red-flag laws are not specifically about mental illness. Indeed, only one state law even mentions the term. It’s about figuring out who is going to commit a crime (or suicide). This is the realm of science fiction, and is the theme of the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report. At least the Future Crime division in the movie had the help of psychics.

johnrlott

0 Comments

Categories

Archives

On The Larry Elder Show: Discussing Migrant Crime

On The Larry Elder Show: Discussing Migrant Crime

Dr. John Lott appeared on The Larry Elder Show to discuss the price of migrant crime. See also Dr. Lott's two pieces at The Daily Signal ("Crime Rate for Illegal Aliens Vastly Understated, Data Shows") and ("New Data on Migrant Crime Rates Raises Eyebrows, Alarms")....