So-called red flag laws allow the state to swoop in and take guns from people who are considered to be a danger to themselves or others. This is problematic because the person targeted doesn't get his day in court until well after it's happened, but it's also problematic because the application of the law has turned out to be even worse than expected.
A New Jersey man lost his guns for months because his wife was feeling a little depressed. She wasn't suicidal, and mental health providers stated as much, but a red flag order was issued, and Elsid Aliaj lost his guns. It took him seven months to get them back, and he's suing his county over it.
Now, the Second Amendment Foundation is seeking to add new plaintiffs to the case.
From a press release:
The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), joined by New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate, have expanded a lawsuit challenging the unlawful revocation and denial of permits as well as confiscation of firearms from multiple residents in New Jersey.
The case, Aliaj v. Fort Lee Police Department, was originally filed late last year after the confiscation of plaintiff Elsid Aliaj’s firearms. The amended complaint expands the case to add plaintiffs Martin Hroncich and Luis Rene De La Cruz Franco, who faced similar confiscations and permit denials and revocations in Bergen County, N.J. In each of the Plaintiff’s instances, Bergen County officials prevented them from exercising their Second Amendment rights based solely on the grounds that they lived with someone officials “had concerns” were prohibited from owning firearms.
“Bergen County’s very clear policy is: If you live with a prohibited person, or even someone suspected of being prohibited, your rights can be taken away. This took the form of permit denials and revocations, and outright gun confiscations,” said SAF Senior Director of Legal Operations Bill Sack. “What we learned after filing this case on behalf of Mr. Aliaj is that the constitutional abuse he suffered was all too common in Bergen County. Additional individuals, including new plaintiffs Mr. Hroncich and Mr. De La Cruz started coming out of the woodwork. Each had a similar story: their rights under the Second Amendment were taken from them purely as the result of concerns Bergen County officials had about loved ones of theirs.”
As the amended complaint states, “…Defendants have adopted, implemented, enforced, and maintained a series of related policies that together deprive individuals, including plaintiffs, under County Defendants’ jurisdiction, from exercising their fundamental rights under the Second Amendment, not premised upon any allegation that Plaintiffs themselves are prohibited, but rather by association with a cohabitant who is so prohibited or otherwise disqualified, or by association with a cohabitant who County Defendants perceive to be so prohibited or otherwise disqualified.”
“Cases like this confirm what we hear from SAF members in gun-grabbing states like New Jersey all the time: local officials do what they want, when they want, without any respect for the law or the Constitution,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “We were excited to initially bring this case on behalf of our member Mr. Aliaj, and we are now thrilled to expand the case to further highlight how extensive, insidious and unconstitutional the policies of the Bergen County Police Department and Prosecutor’s Office really are.”
Mr. Hroncich lost his guns because of a miscommunication between his daughter and a staff member at her school. She was distraught over breaking up with her boyfriend, and the well-meaning school staff member was concerned she might hurt herself. She was evaluated and found that he wasn't a danger to anyone, but the dad still had his guns taken from him.
Mr. De La Cruz lost his as a result of a miscommunication between his son and a fellow student, leading school officials to believe De La Cruz's son intended to harm other students at the school. That turned out not to be remotely the case, but De La Cruz lost his guns for a time because of it as well.
Now, the way this is supposed to work is that if you have guns, but a loved one is the target of a red flag law or is prohibited in some other way, you must make it clear that the prohibited individual has no access to the firearms. In practice, this is a little more dicey, but Bergen County didn't even try to ascertain any of this. They immediately jumped at the opportunity to take guns from people who not only hadn't been shown to be the problem, but in cases where there was no intent to hurt anyone.
The truth is that when you give power to the government, they're going to use it, and those in charge will make sure it's used in the way they see fit.