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Tags: house | red flag law | guns | mental health

House Passes National Red Flag Law Along Party Lines

Jerry Nadler
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

By    |   Thursday, 09 June 2022 01:17 PM EDT

In a primarily party-line vote, the House passed a bill on Thursday to create a national "red flag" gun law, which aims to keep firearms away from people who are considered a threat to themselves or others, The Hill reports.

Known as the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order, the bill passed 224-202. Two Republicans abstained from voting.

According to The Hill, Reps. Fred Upton, R-Mich., Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Chris Jacobs, R-N.Y., broke with the GOP and voted in favor of the legislation, while Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, was the lone Democrat who voted in opposition.

The red flag bill was introduced by Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., and would allow family members and law enforcement to petition U.S. district courts to issue federal extreme protection orders that would temporarily ban individuals from possessing or purchasing guns.

McBath's son was killed in what became known as the "Loud Music Shooting" in Florida in 2012.

According to Everytown for Gun Safety, red flag laws already exist in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

Extreme protection orders can be short-term, lasting for up to 14 days and issued without a hearing, or long-term, which can last for 180 days and require a hearing.

Petitioners seeking protection orders must present evidence that the individual poses an imminent risk to themselves or others by possessing, purchasing, or receiving guns or ammunition.

Long-term protection orders require proof that the individual poses an injury risk to themselves or others by possessing, purchasing or receiving guns or ammunition.

The legislation also provides grant funding to states to incentivize them to strengthen existing state red flag law and to encourage more states to pass such measures.

Additionally, the bill mandates that law enforcement personnel are trained to safely, impartially and effectively use extreme risk protection orders.

During floor debate Thursday, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., linked the bill to the recent wave of mass shootings.

"The details of each case may differ, each tragic in its own way, but there is one theme that comes up most often: someone deeply troubled, experiencing some sort of crisis, had easy access to firearms," Nadler reportedly said. "And all too often, the warning signs were clear but nothing was done to keep guns out of their hands before it was too late."

Republicans were generally not in favor of the measure, however.

Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., sent a memo to House GOP offices on Wednesday encouraging them to vote against the legislation, according to The Hill.

Scalise's memo said the bill "uses overly broad language related to ex parte extreme risk protection orders that casts aside individuals' rights to due process and tramples on Americans' 2nd Amendment rights."

On Wednesday, the House passed a sweeping gun reform package that raises the minimum age to purchase a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21 and bans civilian use of high-capacity magazines, among other provisions.

Both bills were in response to last month's mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y. and Uvalde, Texas.

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In a primarily party-line vote, the House passed a bill on Thursday to create a national "red flag" gun law, which aims to keep firearms away from people who are considered a threat to themselves or others, The Hill reports.
house, red flag law, guns, mental health
508
2022-17-09
Thursday, 09 June 2022 01:17 PM
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