Gun Confiscation Leads to 60 Year Old Man Being Killed in Own Home
We have seen it time and time again. When police descend on a community- often without warning- to seize guns from an individual or a community, violence is a common result.
Police go into these situations with fear in their minds. Perhaps because they know that their task is theft and because people have a natural right to protect their property. Perhaps is it due to a little known psychological phenomenon in which we feel compelled to crush the people we abuse- not only to silence their cries but as a vain attempt to vanquish our own guilt.
Once again, an incidence of gun confiscation had led to the death of an elderly person when Maryland police responded to a so-called protective order. On October 1st of this year, a new law went into effect that allows anyone to make a confidential claim that any given person is a danger to himself or others and must have any guns in their possession confiscated.
Anti-second Amendment activists have been pushing laws like these with a vengeance in recent months following their failure to impose gun control on a national level after the Florida shooting. Many states have attempted and failed to establish “Red Flag Laws” that make it easy for judges or even citizens to give law enforcement the go-ahead to take any guns away from a person based on unproven claims.
In these cases, a claim is made against the person, and before any due process can be meted out, the victim’s guns are forcibly taken. The person whose guns are taken is challenged to prove that they are not a danger before the guns will be returned. It is a process that can take years if local authorities so desire.
As you can imagine, people who are not aware of these laws, and who are surprised by an unexpected visit from police will have the inclination to refuse to have their best means of self-defense taken from them.
In this incidence, the police were processing a protective order which authorized them to take any guns from a 60-year-old man, a Ferndale, MD resident by the name of Gary Williams.
Because the area is known for crime, Mr. Williams naturally had his gun in hand when he answered the door. When he saw his visitors were police officers, he set his gun down. But when they told him that they were there to take his rightful property, police claim, he became irate and picked his gun up again.
The officers immediately initiated a struggle to take the weapon. The gun discharged during the struggle, but no one was shot. Still, one of the officers decided to shoot Mr. Williams.
The names of the officers involved have not been released pending an investigation. A police spokesperson said that when they served the order, they did not even know who made the claim.
Michele Willis, a witness and the niece of Mr. Williams said, “My uncle, (Gary Willis), lived in an apartment above the garage; she said other family members, including her grandmother, another uncle, two aunts, and Gary Willis’ girlfriend were also at the home Sunday night. I’m just dumbfounded right now. My uncle wouldn’t hurt anybody.”
When asked for an explanation of why the anonymous call had been made, she only remarked that it was due to “family being family.” She said she believes that the police should have tried harder to negotiate with her uncle before attacking him.
Incidences like these are becoming increasingly common in areas where such laws exist. And yes, all it takes is a call from a completely anonymous party in order for the police to come and take any and all firearms from the person in question. It doesn’t matter if the person has no history of crime or violence. It doesn’t matter if the person legally owns the guns. It doesn’t matter if the person in question is elderly, living alone in an area with high crime. After receiving a call that could come from anyone, motivated by any reason, anyone living in a state with “Red Flag Laws” can have guns taken from anyone they wish.
Understand, these confiscations are illegal. They are a direct violation of your constitutional right to due process and your right to bear arms. Laws like these cause far more harm than good. And in time, you can expect that criminals will use laws like these to preemptively disarm individuals that they wish to victimize.
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