Two and a half months after the May 18, 2018, Santa Fe High School shooting, Texas is rejecting proposed confiscation orders and embracing more good guys with guns in schools.
Confiscation orders, often referred to as Red Flag laws, became a go-to law for gun controllers after the February 14, 2018, Parkland high school shooting. Under such policies, the seizure of firearms can occur after a family member or law enforcement express concern that an individual may be a danger to himself or others. This triggers a hearing, which can be held ex parte, in which a judge can order the removal of guns and ammunition from a particular gun owner.
The laws vary slightly in how gun rights can be recovered, but typically after a time frame of a number of weeks or months, the individual can appear in court to contend for the restoration of his gun rights and the consequent return of his firearms.
Gun control proponents in Texas suggested the implementation of such a law following the Santa Fe High shooting, but the senate committee weighing the response decided against confiscatory orders. They instead opted for more good guys with guns.
The Austin American-Statesman reports the committee “recommended finding more money for the school marshal program, which allows state-trained teachers and administrators to carry a gun on campus, and the guardian program, which allows school districts to designate employees allowed to carry concealed weapons in schools.” They also suggested the creation of some type of “minimum standard” of training for would-be armed teachers, so that teachers who want to carry–and are qualified–can get the training done and be armed to protect themselves and their students.
The committee did suggest changes that could be made to gun confiscation orders, in case they are proposed again. Those suggestions include making an effort to “clarify how firearms confiscated by police during an arrest should be returned after the person is no longer considered a risk, and clarify the state law on when people convicted of domestic violence may possess a gun.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is against any confiscatory orders, as it Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
Ironically, the orders would not have prevented the Santa Fe High shooting because the attacker was too young to legally buy a firearm. Therefore, he had no firearms in his ownership to confiscate. He used guns that belonged to a third party.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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