HB 687 — Red Flag Gun Confiscation to be Considered by the Senate

First the bad news. HB 687, the “red flag” gun confiscation bill, is still alive and will be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wed., June 24. The hearing will be held “remote” due to COVID-19.

The process to listen in and participate is somewhat difficult, but not impossible.  Please click here and scroll down to the green section and follow the instructions to ZOOM in.

HB 687 will allow an angry relative or former boyfriend/girlfriend, a disgruntled neighbor, or pretty much anyone else to petition a court, in an ex parte hearing,  to strip you of your Second Amendment rights, with nothing but a list of unsubstantiated allegations.  HB 687 is written to allow an extremely low burden of proof or almost no proof at all.

HB 687 specifically allows “telephonic hearings” without the accused present. And the accused — or “respondent” as HB 687 refers to the gun owner — will only learn that he/she is subject to such an order when the police arrive to confiscate their lawfully owned guns.

This is exactly what happened to Gary Willis of Ferndale, Maryland, and he was shot and killed by police during the execution of the gun confiscation order.  We need to push back hard, and GOA has made it easy for you.  Please email the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee (above) and let them know you are strongly opposed to HB 687, or anything else that allows no Due Process gun confiscation.

The good news is that it looks like several gun control bills have all been laid on the table by the State Senate. This includes HB 1143, repealing lawsuit immunity protections for firearms manufacturers, dealers and distributors; HB 1101, requiring you to wait to bring home a gun after buying it; HB 1285, imposing criminal safe / gun free schools; and HB 1608, banning standard capacity magazines.  They are probably dead for the year, but if anything changes we will let you know.