

On September 27, 2019 the Conservative leaders of the Conservative Action Project (CAP) issued the following statement expressing their opposition to the enactment of so-called Red Flag laws at the state or federal level:

Conservatives oppose efforts to pass red flag laws at the state or federal level. These laws reverse the burden of proof, assuming people are guilty and must be proven innocent. They trample on the constitutional rights of Americans. And they do nothing to prevent mass shootings.

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have passed forms of red flag laws, which allow police, family members, neighbors, romantic partners, teachers, or therapists who fear that a gun owner has become dangerous to file a seizure warrant for that person’s weapons with a judge.

In many states, the gun owner is not present in the hearing to defend himself in front of a judge, who determines if that person’s firearms should be confiscated.

Federal law already prohibits individuals from owning firearms if they have been convicted of a felony, a domestic-violence misdemeanor, have an active restraining order against them, or have been committed to a mental health institution. All 50 states also have civil commitment laws on the books, which allow friends and family to petition a court of emergency hospitalization or detention, subject to a hearing where the named individual is present entitled to legal counsel.

Red flag laws don’t reduce shootings. Two Yale-trained researchers reviewed 22 unique mental health reporting laws around the country, and found “no correlation with homicide rates.”

John Lott and Carlisle Moody found similar results in a fixed regression model for all 50 states, showing “red flag laws had no significant effect on murder, suicide, the number of people killed in mass public shootings, robbery, aggravated assault, or burglary.”

Worse, data from Connecticut and Indiana—states with the two oldest red flag laws in the country—show that nearly a third of confiscation orders are issued in error, against innocent people.

It would be a mistake to enact red flag laws, or encourage states to do so, when these laws clearly do not address the problem of mass shootings, but instead put the enumerated Second Amendment rights of Americans at risk.

Conservatives stand strongly opposed to the passage of red flag laws at the state or federal level.

(All organizations listed for IDENTIFICATION purposes only)



Alfred S. Regnery

Chairman, Conservative Action Project

Chairman, Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund



The Honorable Jim DeMint

Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute

Member, US Senate (SC 2005-2013)



Ed Corrigan

Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project

and Executive Director, Conservative Partnership Institute



Rachel Bovard

Senior Director of Policy

Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI)



Noah Wall

Vice President of Advocacy

FreedomWorks



Mary Vought

Executive Director

Senate Conservatives Fund



Myron Ebell

Director, Center for Energy and Environment,

Competitive Enterprise Institute



The Honorable Morton C. Blackwell

President

The Leadership Institute



Cleta Mitchell, Esq.

Partner

Foley & Lardner LLP



The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr.

Chief Domestic Advisor

President Ronald Reagan (1987-1988)



The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop

White House Advisor

President Ronald Reagan (1981-1985)



Lisa B. Nelson



Kelly J. Shackelford, Esq.

Chairman, CNP Action, Inc.

President and CEO, First Liberty Institute



Christopher Malagisi

Executive Director of Outreach

Hillsdale College



The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell

Chairman

Constitutional Congress, Inc.



Jenny Beth Martin

Chairman

Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund



Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin (Ret.)

Executive Vice President

Family Research Council



Matt Schlapp

Chairman

American Conservative Union (ACU)



Daniel Schneider

Executive Director

American Conservative Union (ACU)



The Honorable Donald Paul Hodel

U.S. Secretary of Energy (1982-1985)

U.S. Secretary of Interior (1985-1989)



Floyd Brown

Chairman

Western Center for Journalism



Ron Robinson

President

Young America’s Foundation



The Honorable Mike Hill

Representative

Florida State House



The Honorable James C. Miller III

Budget Director for President Reagan



Tim Macy

Chairman

Gun Owners of America



The Honorable Tom DeLay

Former Majority Leader

U.S. House of Representatives



The Honorable Belden Bell

Cochair-Legacy Society

The Heritage Foundation



Joseph Gregory

CEO

Gregory Management Co.



Anne Schlafly Cori

Chairman

Eagle Forum



The Honorable Tim Huelskamp, Ph.D

Former Member of Congress

1st District of Kansas



The Honorable Gary L. Bauer

President

American Values



Ambassador Henry F. Cooper

President Reagan's Chief Defense and Space Negotiator

& Former SDI Director



Ralph A. Rebandt II

Pastor

Oakland Hills Community Church



Donna Hearne

CEO

Constitutional Coalition



The Honorable George K. Rasley Jr.

Managing Editor

ConservativeHQ.com



Melissa Ortiz

Admin/Blogger

DCBelleonWheels.com



Jenna Ellis Rives

Constitutional Law Attorney

Trump 2020 Advisory Board



J. Christian Adams

President

Public Interest Legal Foundation



Gabriel Joseph

Digital Media / Social Consultant

The FreeEats Network



Richard Manning

President

Americans for Limited Government



James L. Martin

Founder/Chairman

60 Plus Association



Willes K. Lee

President,

National Federation of Republican Assemblies



Saulius “Saul” Anuzis

President

60 Plus Association



Craig Shirley

Reagan Biographer



Judson Phillips

Founder

Tea Party Nation



Sean Noble

President

American Encore



William W. Pascoe, III

Board Member

Tea Party Patriots Action



Mark Fitzgibbons

President of Corporate Affairs

American Target Advertising



Rebecca Hagelin

Columnist

The Washington Times



Nancy Schulze

Founder

RCW Speakers



Eaton Hopkins

President

Liberty Surgical



Amapola Hansberger

President

Legal Immigrants for America



Terry Schilling

Executive Director

American Principles Project



Peter J. Thomas

Chairman

The Conservative Caucus



Benjamin R. Case

CEO

Focused On Fundraising, Inc.



Reverend Gregory Quinlan

President

The Center for Garden State Families



Robert K. Fischer

Meeting Coordinator

Conservatives of Faith



Dr. Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D.

Founder and CEO

CorsiNation.com



Michelle Easton

President,

Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women



Kay R. Daly

President

Coalition for a Fair Judiciary



Melvin Adams

Past President

RENEWANATION



S. Fran Lewis

President

Lewis Jewelers



Charlie Copeland

President

Intercollegiate Studies Institute



Elaine Donnelly

President

Center for Military Readiness



Allen Hebert

Chairman

American-Chinese Fellowship of Houston



Roxanne Phillips

Member, Executive Committee

Council for National Policy



Mario Navarro da Costa

Director, Washington Bureau

Tradition, Family, Property



C. Preston Noell III

President

Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.



Lee Beaman

CEO

Beaman Automotive



Joan Holt Lindsey

President

Lindsey Communications



Robert D. Thompson

Former Administrator

The Weyrich Lunch (1999-2016)



George Landrith

President

Frontiers of Freedom



Norm Singleton

President

Campaign for Liberty



Dr. John C. Eastman

Henry Salvatori Professor of Law & Community Service,

Chapman University Fowler School of Law

Senior Fellow, The Claremont Institute



Rod D. Martin

Founder & CEO

The Martin Organization, Inc.



Sherri R. Martin

Executive Vice President

The Martin Organization, Inc.



Haley E. Martin

President

The Martin Foundation



Nicholas Stehle

Campaign for the American Future



The Honorable Jerry Melvin

Former Dean

Florida House of Representatives



Shawn A. Mitchell

Former Chaplain,

National Federation of Republican Assemblies



Rebekah Gantner

Executive Director,

Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund



Ed Martin

President

Phyllis Schlafly Eagles



Jeremy Cerone

CEO

EliteSafe Inc.



Lori Roman

President

American Civil Rights Union Action



Caroline C. Lewis

Owner

Percipio Communications