Red Flag Laws Threaten Iowans Second Amendment Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 19th, 2021

Chuck Grassley’s flip flopping stance on red flag laws tells Iowans everything they need to know about his priorities in office. His history of supporting red flag gun confiscation laws shows constituents the blatant disregard he has for their Constitutional rights, in a time where erosion of their freedoms is worse than ever before. 

Red flag laws are state laws that allow law enforcement, family members, and potentially even medical professionals, to petition the court to remove firearms and ammunition from a person, along with their rights to purchase or possess firearms for a period of time. In some states, a person’s guns can be confiscated without their knowledge of the petition, leaving them with no prior ability to defend themselves against the charges. At the outset of those petitions, there are no due process protections prior to consication. 

Chuck Grassley has not only been a supporter, but an advocate of red flag laws. In 2019, Grassley even called for the implementation of red flag laws into federal legislation. “There’s been several states that have passed red flag laws, and they kind of set an example for congress,” Grassley told his campaign donors at a fundraiser in 2019. “Congress can actually learn from state experiments, like we did with criminal justice reform.”  His latest backtracking, saying he wouldn’t support language of red flag laws for military members in the recent house version of the National Defense Authorization Act, says little about his intentions for the rest of us. 

Grassley’s support for red flag laws is just one stance in a string of beliefs that threaten American freedoms, including support for vaccine passports, and voting to confirm Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has since weaponized the FBI against parents who show concern over Critical Race Theory being taught in schools. Maybe Iowans would believe Grassley more if he had a track record of actually defending their freedoms rather than playing convenient politics to help his next reelection campaign. It doesn’t matter what statements are given during an election year- what matters is whether or not Grassley actually defends the freedom of his constituents during his time in office. 

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