Republicans and Democrats Want to Make Minority Report a Reality in America
Jose Nino
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If gun owners think that red flag gun confiscation orders are scary, wait until they get a load of Threat Assessment, Prevention, and Safety Act of 2019 (S.265).
David Leach of the Strident Conservative reports that the TAPS Act is “Sort of like red flag laws on steroids.”
TAPS has been introduced in the past, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy drafting his own version (H.R. 5611) in 2016. The bill McCarthy introduced would have allowed “the government to deny gun rights without charges being filed, a trial, or a conviction based merely on a prediction that you’ll someday be a terrorist.”
Red flag laws have become very popular across the nation since the Parkland shooting and now the federal government has entertained its own versions of this law. Senators like Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio have drafted their own iterations of red flag legislation.
However, red flag bills are not enough for them. Rubio is now teaming up with Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema and Thom Tillis to co-sponsor the Senate version, S.265. According to Leach, “Rubio’s TAPS Act would encourage law enforcement to give EVERYONE a personal threat assessment (adults and children) and single out those they deem as future threats.” This information could then be used to “stop dangerous individuals before they can commit an act of violence.”
It’s not just the Senate that has a TAPS bill in the pipeline. Republican Representative Brian Bain and Democratic Representative Val Demings have joined forces to draft a House version of the TAPS Act that deems “mass casualty attacks” as a “threat to public safety.” In turn, these incidents require “a proactive solution … in order to prevent future tragedies.”
Given the bipartisan nature of this legislation, these pieces of gun control have a better chance of passing both the House and Senate compared to other bills like universal gun registration, which Republicans tend to oppose.
There might not be enough momentum at the present for the passage of such a bill, but another mass shooting incident could be the necessary catalyst for the TAPS Act to pass
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