South Carolina Lawmakers Write Letter to President Trump Urging Him to Oppose ‘Red Flag’ Gun Control
Shane Trejo
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Conservative state lawmakers from South Carolina are pushing back against the Republican Party’s national capitulation on the 2nd Amendment, issuing a letter to President Donald Trump strongly urging him to oppose “red flag” gun control laws.
“Making sense of each tragic act of violence and formulating appropriate policy responses designed to protect innocent Americans requires a proper understanding of the context and the facts,” the conservative lawmakers explained in the letter.
“According to the F.B.I. and the Bureau of Justice, overall property and violent crime rates have been in decline since 1993. These statistics show that violent crime rates have fallen from 747 per 100,000 people in 1993 to 382 per 100,000 people in 2017,” they added.
39 conservative lawmakers from South Carolina – 33 state house representatives and 6 state senators – signed onto the letter in an attempt to stop federal legislation to enact red flag laws that would revoke due process and seize guns from individuals who liberal activist judges deem are a threat to public safety.
“In states like Maryland, Oregon, and California that have enacted these “red flag” laws, the individuals subject to “emergency protection orders” are effectively guilty until proven innocent,” the conservative lawmakers explained.
“This flips due process on its head. “Red flag” laws erode the very cornerstones of our country, the right to keep and bear arms and due process. They also put law enforcement and citizens in adverse, unnecessary circumstances that will lead to more instances of police brutality and tragic death,” they added.
In the letter, the lawmakers appeal to Trump by referencing his troubles with the deep state, who have abused their power to attack him and undermine his presidency. They argue that new constitutional infringements will only lead to more overreach.
“During your candidacy for President, the former administration used the F.B.I. and F.I.S.A. courts against you. We are urging you not to give the federal government any more power to bypass our Constitution,” they wrote.
“Furthermore, we the undersigned urge you to remember your oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, which expressly prohibits taking the inherent human rights of Americans without prior due process. Specifically, these “red flag” laws are gross violations of the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, and 10th Amendments,” they added.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, the neoconservative lawmaker from South Carolina, has been one of the individuals in President Trump’s ear urging him to adopt “red flag” gun control laws.
“El Paso shooting is sick and senseless. Time to do more than pray. Time to enact common-sense legislation in Congress to empower states to deal with those who present a danger to themselves and others — while respecting robust due process,” Graham wrote in a Tweet on Aug. 3.
“May not have mattered here, but Red Flag laws have proven to be effective in states that have them,” he added in a subsequent tweet.
“Red flag” laws have certainly been effective at disarming patriotic Trump supporters, which was demonstrated recently in Oregon when a former marine had his firearms seized to protect the safety of ANTIFA domestic terrorists. The conservative lawmakers in South Carolina are attempting to stop more situations like these from happening throughout the country with their appeal to President Trump.
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