Republicans, Independents Fear Red Flag Laws Will Be Abused By Government, Poll – Daily Caller

A majority of independents and Republicans believe red flag gun laws will likely be abused by the government as the Senate works to clear a bipartisan package including such laws, a new poll reveals.

The Trafalgar Group and Convention of States Action conducted a survey and asked participants whether they believe red flag gun control laws designed to temporarily take guns away from individuals has the potential to be abused by local authorities and government officials to disarm their political opponents and/or citizens who disagree with them?

Among all the respondents, 46.7% said yes while 22.5% said they were unsure. Roughly 30% said no.

When broken down along political parties, 16.4% of Democrats said yes, 30.1% said not sure and 53.5% said no.

Republicans overwhelmingly thought the laws were open for abuse, with 72.2% saying yes and just 14.1% saying no. Independents similarly believed the laws have potential for abuse, with 52.3% responding yes and 24.3% saying not sure.

The survey was conducted between June 16 and June 19 amongst 1,084 respondents with a +/- 2.9% margin of error. (RELATED: Law Abiding Folks Shouldnt Have Any Fears, Republican Rep. Fred Upton Claims About Gun Control Bill)

Americans want real, workable solutions to the mass shootings we are seeing in this nation, but its obvious that they dont see the proposed red flag laws as the answer, President of Convention of States Action Mark Meckler said in a statement. Government officials at all levels have spent the last two years demonizing their opponents and using whatever means possible to censor or threaten those who disagree with them, so the idea that we should now trust those same people to not abuse a law that could infringe on basic constitutional rights is laughable.

More and more Americans are coming to the conclusion that the government abuses any power its given, and they are responding accordingly, he continued.

The Senate voted64-34 Tuesday to start debate on a bipartisan gun control package that includes $750 million that would in part help states implement extreme risk protection order programs, also known as red flag laws. These laws allow a court to confiscate a firearm from an individual who is believed to pose a violent threat.

In the Supreme Court case of Canglia v. Strom, the high court ruled seizing a citizens gun violates search and seizure rights protected under the Fourth Amendment.

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Republicans, Independents Fear Red Flag Laws Will Be Abused By Government, Poll - Daily Caller