Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is quite unpopular at his state’s Republican Party convention this weekend. First, many convention-goers threw out lanyards promoting the Texas senator that were connected to convention name badges and replaced them with alternative lanyards. Then, the state party’s platform committee unanimously voted to condemn Cornyn and the nine other Republican United States Senate members who have been working with Democrats in the Senate to enact laws seeking to violate Second Amendment and Due Process rights through the advancing of “red flag” laws and other new gun control measures.
Tag: gun control
In a Tuesday memorandum to employees, Walmart Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Doug McMillon declared that Walmart, the huge retailer that is among the 50 largest public companies in the world, would be ending some gun and ammunition sales and making other changes to gun policies in its stores. McMillon, in his memo, also says he would be writing that day to United States President Donald Trump and Congress leaders calling for action on several restrictions on the exercise of gun-related rights. McMillon calls these restrictions “common sense measures.”
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Red Flag Laws Are Far from Harmless
When President Donald Trump presented on August 5 a collection of proposals for government actions to counter mass shootings, advancing red flag laws was part of the package. Briefly describing such laws that operate in several states, Trump said, “we must make sure that those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearms, and that, if they do, those firearms can be taken through rapid due process.” That description — taking guns only from people who “pose a grave risk to public safety” and only after a judgment has been made in accordance with due process — would make red flag laws sound to many people like a rather harmless means to protect the public from extreme harm. However, the truth is very different.
After any mass shooting, you can expect many politicians to jump in front of reporters and voters to herald support for cracking down on the ability of people to obtain, keep, and carry guns. President Donald Trump fits that mold, expressing his continuing support for imposing red flag laws to deprive people of their guns in his Monday statement in response to killings over the weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. He further trumpeted in the statement gun restriction actions he has taken as president, including directing the Department of Justice to ban bump stocks and approving legislation strengthening gun purchase background checks. Trump also noted the United States government last year prosecuted a record number of firearms offenses.
But, Trump’s policy response in his statement went far beyond praising his past and ongoing gun control efforts. He also presented a list of other objectives including quick capital punishment for people found guilty of hate crimes and mass murder and more involuntary confinement of mentally disturbed people. He proposed cracking down on the internet as well.