U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- I’ve met many police officers who said they would never go door-to-door and confiscate guns. I’ve also met officers who would. Seizing someone’s property is a slippery slope, and the edge is closer than you might think. Several Democrat presidential candidates already called for gun-confiscation. None of the Democrat candidates denounced it. Consider how gun confiscation plays out from the police officer’s perspective. Some states have gun-confiscation laws in place already.
He is a “danger to himself or others,” or so the officer was told. Of course, that wasn’t exactly what the complaint said, and that isn’t really what the judge ruled. There are lots of little lies that grew as the story was passed from the estranged wife, to the divorce lawyer, to the prosecutor, to the judge. Now the confiscation order is passed down to the lieutenant and finally to the policeman.
That is how SWAT teams ends up at someone’s door in the middle of the night. That is the reality of an “Extreme Risk Protection Order” (ERPO).
We should expect more unjustified SWAT raids as the result of the recently passed Red Flag Gun Laws and ERPOs. There will be lots of mistakes since we have over a hundred million gun owners in the US. Throw in the facts that forty percent of households have a gun, and half of marriages end in divorce. Also consider the fact that there is no penalty for lying in family court. The stage is set for abuse and tragedy.
We’ve seen the law misused and abused already in family court, but now something has changed. Now the cops will come with guns drawn in order to disarm an innocent gun owner.
That increases the risk of violence, and the concern isn’t theoretical. We’ve already seen things go wrong. Policemen were shot when they smashed their way into the wrong house. Innocent homeowners were killed when cops stormed into their homes. Some of those police officers are on trial after they shot civilians in the middle of the night. More police officers will be charged as we see more gun-confiscation.
The police and other government officials should be charged and tried in court. Here is why.
After the midnight raid, the officer says he was just following orders. The officer asks for qualified immunity since he is a government employee following department procedures.
Now we will finally ask the question if qualified immunity can apply to an unjust law.
“Red Flag” gun laws are being challenged in the courts since honest and non-violent citizens are being punished without due process. That may mean the officer and his superiors can and should be charged if innocent people are injured after enforcing an unjust law.
We got rid of the excuse, “I was just following orders.” about 75 years ago. It wasn’t justified then, and Red-Flag laws don’t justify it now.
The officers I’ve trained with know that gun owners don’t deserve midnight raids. They know that licensed civilians who carry guns in public are extraordinarily law-abiding and non-violent.
With an ironic twist, the officer’s own words might be used to convict them in court;
“Tell me lieutenant, what would you do if someone broke into your home in the middle of the night?
“By the way, I have these sworn statements from the concealed-carry students you trained. You said an innocent person should stop the threat and then retreat until they can summon help.
“And here, lieutenant is a similar sworn statement by your ex-wife.”
Confiscating guns at gunpoint is playing with fire. Lots of us will get burned, and the best way to win is to not play.
We already have laws in place to help the mentally ill. Too often, we’ve had government officials ignore the pleas for help from the mentally ill and their family. Now we’ll have government officials putting more innocent people at risk in the name of public safety. That is a problem.
Government is a blunt tool. Use it carefully, and first do no harm. If SWAT cops at your door is the answer, then we’re asking the wrong question.
Please stay safe.
About Rob Morse
The original article is here. Rob Morse writes about gun rights at Ammoland, at Clash Daily, and on his SlowFacts blog. He hosts the Self Defense Gun Stories Podcast and co-hosts the Polite Society Podcast. Rob is an NRA pistol instructor and combat handgun competitor.