For those who don’t know what these laws are designed to do, a red flag law is supposed to give the local law enforcement the ability to go to a court to temporarily take away a person’s guns. Note temporarily and not permanently. The laws basically depend on a friend or relative reporting a person they believe is nutty enough to harm themselves or another with a gun. The accuser must tell the reasons and be strong enough to sway a judge.

The Dayton shooter’s mom told the local police she was concerned about her son but had no idea he had a gun because he bought it over the internet from Texas a few weeks before the shooting. The Wal-Mart shooter’s friends and relatives say they had no clue. Assuming the guns are removed, most laws only allow for a few days cooling off period. Another possible person who can report a potential threat is their psychiatrist or psychologist. Sounds good but few of the shooters were seeing a doctor. What does temporary mean? In some states its less than two weeks before they go to court to get them back.

Reporting someone who might want to kill someone probably puts that person at the top of the kill list when the guns are returned. Seldom would this law have saved anyone’s life. But I guess if it stops just one mass shooter it may be worthwhile but not at the expense of getting real laws against assault guns, high capacity magazines, gun shows, and strong background checks. Those are what’s really needed!