Missouri lawmakers are weighing legislation that would ban police officers or public agencies from enforcing federal orders to confiscate guns from people believed to be a danger to others or themselves. The “Anti-Red Flag Gun Seizure Act” says that any federal order of protection or other court order to confiscate firearms, gun accessories or ammunition from a “law-abiding” citizen is a violation of the person’s Second Amendment rights. “We have the Second Amendment to protect the First Amendment and our right to due process,” said bill sponsor Sen. Denny Hoskins, a Republican running for Missouri secretary of state, reports the Kansas City Star. A Senate committee held a hearing on the legislation on Wednesday. The hearing signaled that some Republicans plan to push forward on expanding the state’s loose gun laws despite recent high-profile shootings, including a mass shooting after the Kansas City Chiefs victory rally that killed one person and injured more than 20 others.
Missouri Democrats and advocates of greater restrictions on firearms have for years pushed for red flag laws, which are typically defined as gun violence prevention tools that allow courts to remove firearms temporarily from people considered to be a danger to themselves or others. Sen. Brian Williams, a Democrat on the committee, cited last month’s mass shooting at the Chiefs rally, which several lawmakers attended. “I remember being in a group text with colleagues in the Senate, Republican and Democrat, concerned whether or not they were safe,” Williams said. “I will be strongly opposed to this bill.” William Bland testified in favor of the legislation on behalf of the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance, a gun rights advocacy group in the Kansas City area. Bland said red flag laws are unconstitutional and ineffective. “If a person is believed to be a danger to themselves or others, taking away their firearms does not remove that danger,” he said.