LEWISTON, ME—In the hours following a violent rampage in Maine in which a lone attacker killed at least 16 individuals and injured numerous others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded Wednesday that there was no way to prevent the massacre from …
Yeah that’s the problem with our current system. My nephew has spent time in juvenile facilities for bringing weapons to school. He’s been in trouble for SWATing people and also for stalking a girl. He’s struggled with homelessness after burning bridges with every family member he has, mostly due to him not taking his medication to help with his mental health. He’s been known to sell or trade his medication for drugs.
At one point, he mentioned that he was thinking about getting a gun. In my mind, he hits every red flag I can think of for a person who should NOT be allowed to have a gun. So I looked into what it would take for me to get him flagged or put on some sort of “do not sell to” list. You’d think with his history, that’d be a fairly straightforward process right?
Nope. It’s damn near impossible. I have to go to court and swear an affidavit that says he’s an immediate risk to committing harm. Then I have to continue to do so once every few months, indefinitely. People always ask, “Why didn’t someone prevent this from happening?” The answer is really simple. Since owning a gun is a constitutional right, the systems in place to prevent someone from having a gun are extremely difficult to successfully navigate. I wish that just once, the family of a mass shooter was interviewed afterwards and told the media as such. Maybe that would make a difference? I doubt it.
That’s the problem I have with red flag laws. They simply shortcut the due process when really that system itself can and should be improved.
My worry is that false positives will lead to innocent people having rights taken. I know many are lucky enough to not give a shit about guns but what if it was any other right? Press, religion, etc. If people are getting constitutional rights taken I don’t want it to be on a whim, especially if that shit is permanant. Even if it gets walked back it can cause a lot of harm, like false “me too” accusations from a few years ago.