President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice unveiled a new entity that will train state and local officials on procedures to apply red flag laws to confiscate firearms from gun owners who are a threat to themselves or others. Conservatives slammed the new center that intends to bolster red flag laws to confiscate firearms from threatening gun owners.
The Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center on Saturday. The new entity will also be called “The Center.”
The National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center will “provide training and technical assistance to law enforcement officials, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, clinicians, victim service and social service providers, community organizations, and behavioral health professionals responsible for implementing laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of people who pose a threat to themselves or others.”
The DOJ said in a statement, “ERPO laws, which are modeled off domestic violence protection orders, create a civil process allowing law enforcement, family members (in most states), and medical professionals or other groups (in some states) to petition a court to temporarily prohibit someone at risk of harming themselves or others from purchasing and possessing firearms for the duration of the order.”
The National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center website declared that it will provide training and technical assistance such as:
- Development and dissemination of trainings for ERPO stakeholders.
- Support for states and local jurisdictions to implement ERPO programs.
- Facilitation of peer-to-peer engagement with model ERPO learning sites.
- Delivery of presentations and webinars to advance states’ and localities’ knowledge on key ERPO topics.
ERPO laws are often called red flag laws and allow the government to confiscate firearms from legal gun owners without due process.
ERPO laws allow law enforcement to search for and seize the firearms of “dangerous individuals.” Red flag laws also permit courts to issue temporary orders prohibiting “dangerous” individuals from possessing or acquiring firearms.
The DOJ press release said that 21 states and the District of Columbia have enacted ERPO laws.
The White House noted that only six of the states that implemented ERPO laws have utilized federal funds from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which offers $750 million for “red flag programs, mental health courts, drug courts, and veteran treatment courts.”
The National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center is a collaboration between the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, the U.S. Department of Justice, and Bureau of Justice Assistance.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated, “The launch of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center will provide our partners across the country with valuable resources to keep firearms out of the hands of individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others. The establishment of the Center is the latest example of the Justice Department’s work to use every tool provided by the landmark Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to protect communities from gun violence.”
Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer added, “Supporting our law enforcement and community partners in curbing the scourge of gun violence is more critical than ever. In addition to other resources leveraged across the Justice Department, this Center will provide communities with new tools and technical assistance to help them implement effective crisis intervention strategies and reduce gun violence.”
Conservatives bashed the Center as a new version of government overreach that attempts to infringe on Second Amendment rights and confiscate guns without due process.
Blaze News investigative reporter Steve Baker: “The long march through our institutions is complete and the neo-Marxist assault on the Bill of Rights is now fully out of the closet. We see the enemy, ‘…both foreign and DOMESTIC.'”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.): “What the hell is this evil? A Federal Red Flag center; We did not authorize this. Announced, of course, just hours after the omnibus passes.”
GOP Texas State Representative Brian Harrison: “Post-Constitutional America. Unelected bureaucrats now both write and enforce law; by edict. Congress has made itself irrelevant… except to occasionally vote to spend more money we don’t have. Every elected Republican not fighting this is complicit.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.): “This didn’t come through Congress. This Administration will do everything in their power to destroy the Constitution and the God given rights of Americans.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.): “Merrick Garland just announced a massive Red Flag Operation that the DOJ will be running by using EVERY spy tool the US government has in order to violate American’s Second Amendment!! This comes right after Johnson fully funded Biden’s weaponized DOJ!”
Columnist David Harsanyi: “Defending ‘democracy’ by stripping Americans of their due process and Second Amendment rights using a unilateral federal decree.”
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.): “The timing of this is intentional. This is an UNAUTHORIZED attack on our 2nd Amendment.”
Libertarian activist Spike Cohen: “This is Federal Red Flag.”
Gun rights advocate Dana Loesch: “This won’t apply to Hunter Biden, illegal aliens, or cartel members that Dems fight to arm. This is an attack on due process and ignores existing law that provides a way to adjudicate someone ineligible. All previous tragedies were preventable without removal of due process.”
Author J Michael Waller: “They will build a political police by whatever means necessary.”
The official account for the Libertarian Party: “We will resist this until the end of time. The right to keep and bear arms is non-negotiable. Your red flag schemes will fail.”
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