California Senator Dianne Feinstein has introduced a bill that would allow the federal government to begin confiscating guns under special “provisions.” The bill’s supporters argue that the bill is intended to protect those under a potential threat of gun violence. The bill’s opponents see this as a slippery slope to full scale gun confiscation.
The new bill, called The Pause for Safety Act, would allow anyone to get a “firearms restraining order” against anyone to prevent them from purchasing new guns and confiscate any guns they already own.
According to California Senator Barbara Boxer’s website, the new bill includes the following provisions:
“One, it would help ensure the families and others can go to court and seek a gun violence prevention order to temporarily stop someone close to them who poses a danger to themselves or others from purchasing a firearm.
“Two, it would help ensure that families and others can also seek a gun violence prevention warrant that would allow law enforcement to take temporary possession of firearms that have already been purchased if a court determines that the individual poses a threat to themselves or others.
“Three, it would help ensure that law enforcement makes a full use of all existing gun registries when assessing a tip, warning, or request from a concerned family member or other close associate.”
The language is quite vague on who the “others” who can seek a firearm restraining order are.
Nick Leghorn of The Truth About Guns writes “the scariest part of this proposed legislation is the idea that anyone can ask for one of these restraining orders. So, for example, if a gun control activist got ahold of a sign-in sheet from a local gun range, they could start spamming the judicial system with these ‘gun violence prevention warrants,’ and send a squad of police officers to their doorstep to confiscate their firearms. For their own good, of course.”
What do you think? Is this a bill designed to help stop mass shootings or a loophole for the government to start confiscating firearms?
(Image source: Politico)