Democrats Reject 'Red Flag' Amendment So Law Enforcement Can't Target Gang Databases

The Democrat-majority House Judiciary Committee approved allowing the federal government to intervene in some cases to take guns away from someone considered an extreme risk, but Democrats rejected a GOP-proposal that would red-flag gang members, the Washington Examiner reported.

Red flags laws allow individuals, usually family members, to petition a court and urge that someone considered a risk to himself or others have his guns taken away.

“The majority of violent crime, including gun violence, in the United States is linked to gangs,” Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado said. “My amendment is quite simple. It would allow the issuance of a red flag order against anyone whose name appears in a gang database if there was probable cause to include that individual in the database.”

Buck said America’s gun control efforts should target known criminals first.

“We need to get guns out of the hands of violent criminals. That starts with [giving] law enforcement another tool to disarm gang members. We should target red flags against known criminals, especially gang members. This approach will have the most meaningful impact in reducing gun violence,” Buck said, according to KCNC.