WHEREAS, the Democrats are exploiting public emotion over recent mass shootings to advance pet gun control proposals such as Extreme Risk Protective Orders (Red Flag) and Enhanced Background Checks (EBCs) that would not have prevented any of the recent mass shootings; and
WHEREAS, EBCs are, in reality, back door gun registration schemes that violate the Commerce Clause of the Constitution if implemented at the Federal Level, and are unworkable at the state level; and
WHEREAS, EBCs will only add inconvenience and increase the expense to law-abiding citizens without having any effect on criminal elements other than driving the black market deeper underground; and
WHEREAS, EBCs arbitrarily and capriciously turn the historically lawful act of private commerce between fellow citizens into a felony based purely upon the idea that all private gun buyers are criminals until declared otherwise; and
WHEREAS, existing Background Check Systems produce more false positives than actual hits and all EBC proposals suffer from the same fatal defect; and
WHEREAS, Red Flag laws in all proposed forms violate due process and deprive thousands of individuals of their rights without actually reducing violence in any measurable way; and
WHEREAS, temporary confiscation of firearms under Red Flag is as temporary as a “temporary tax” because Red Flag laws erect a new and dangerous legal standard of “Abundance of Caution” that replaces the American legal standards of “Preponderance of the Evidence” (Civil) and “Beyond Reasonable Doubt” (Criminal); and
WHEREAS, Red Flag laws are based on the old French Revolution legal tactic of “Guilt by Denunciation,” which is nothing but a sneaky way of introducing presumption of guilt that not only leads to loss of rights but also results in collateral damage including loss of employment, loss of employability, calamitous legal expenses, total destruction of reputation, and in some cases where serving a red flag warrant has resulted in unnecessary deaths; and
WHEREAS, over 90% of gun violence occurs in jurisdictions with draconian implementations of gun control that just happen to be governed by the same Democrats calling for these measures; and
WHEREAS, when confronted with the options of doing nothing or doing the wrong thing, decent, just, and thoughtful people always refuse to be stampeded by emotional pleas into doing that which is legally, ethically, and morally wrong; and
WHEREAS, the Fourth Amendment protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure; now
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Party of Texas calls upon members of the Texas Congressional Delegation and members of the Texas Legislature to firmly reject Enhanced Background Checks and Extreme Risk Protective Orders as nothing but cleverly devised infringements of the God-given and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Republican Party of Texas strongly rejects any implementation of Red Flag laws or Enhanced Background Checks should there be a Special Session of the Texas Legislature; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that this resolution be distributed to all Republican members of the Texas House of Representatives and Senate, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, all Republican members representing the State of Texas in the United States House of Representatives and Senate.
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