Immediately before the election, Democrats wanted to disown the notion of defunding the police. Well, it is back again. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) raises the issue of enforcing the types of gun control laws that he supports. This discussion starts at the 1:25 mark.
“[With Red Flag Laws] You’re just temporarily taking guns away from people,“ he said. “I think we have to have a conversation about whether we can continue to fund law enforcement in these states where they’re refusing to implement these gun laws.”
Corbin Bolies, “U.S. Senator Considers Defunding Police Who Don’t Enforce Gun Laws,” The Daily Beast, November 27, 2022.
The problem is that the senator is wrong about the public support for Red Flag laws. The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), which I head, hired McLaughlin & Associates to survey 1,000 general election voters in July. The survey began by asking people whether they supported red flag Laws. It then informed respondents that there are no hearings before an individual’s guns are taken away, and no mental health care experts are involved in the process. After being told these two facts, what had been two-to-one support for Red Flag laws turned to opposition by a 47%-to-29% margin.
Here is a recent piece on the general problems with Red Flag laws.
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