Say No to a National ‘Red Flag’ Law

When the Senate returns from its break next week, its members intend to discover if there are any gun-control measures on which 60 senators can agree. Bipartisan talks are underway. They usually amount to nothing in this area — appropriately — but there is more buzz about their seriousness this time, with much of it around so-called “red flag” laws. These laws trigger the temporary confiscation of firearms when an individual is deemed a threat to himself or others.

We have urged states to consider such laws. If carefully crafted, they can provide law enforcement and families a tool to potentially prevent a disturbed person from acquiring firearms to carry out a devastating attack.

But the federal level is a different matter. First of all, our constitutional system expressly separates the responsibilities of the federal government and the responsibilities of the states, and, absent an amendment that empowers it do so, the federal government lacks any authority to remove legally owned firearms from individuals whom it suspects may be dangerous at some point in the future. If one squints, one can find in the Commerce Clause certain powers to regulate the transportation, importation, and interstate sale of firearms. One cannot find the power to superintend their possession. Under no circumstances should that power be claimed.