Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Emanuel (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

First, Emanuel says anyone with a “domestic-violence record” should be “banned from buying a gun.” This is an excellent idea. Also, it is already the law. Owning a gun after a domestic-violence conviction is illegal under federal law — and under numerous state laws. It is legal for the police to take guns when there is “reasonable fear of bodily injury” to the partner or child.  These regulations are occasionally abused by law enforcement but, at a minimum, there exists a rudimentary due process, rather than arbitrary gun confiscation. We can only deduce, then, that Emanuel means guns should be confiscated from those merely accused of domestic violence by another party.

Emanuel’s second idea is to ban those with “a mental-health issue, and a relationship and anything on violence on mental health” from buying guns. Another good idea. And again, already the law. It is illegal to sell a firearm or ammunition to any person you know or have reasonable cause to believe “has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution.”

Emanuel is likely talking about red-flag laws that empower the police to confiscate guns from Americans on the strength of a third-party accusation. California, for instance, already has a law (a grossly unconstitutional one, I would argue) that bars anyone who has checked into a mental facility — even, for say, nervous exhaustion or an addiction problem — from owning firearms for the rest of their lives. Even if a person shows a preponderance of evidence that he would use firearms in a safe and lawful manner, he may never buy a gun.

Not only do such laws unduly deprive Americans of their rights, but they also stigmatize mental illnesses that have nothing to do with potential violence or criminality. It is also a good way to discourage gun owners who suffer from, say, depression or suicidal thoughts from seeking the help they need.

Yet, Emanuel’s most egregious proposal is “No Fly, No Buy.” The idea here is to confiscate the guns of American citizens who’ve been arbitrarily placed on various secret government no-fly and watch lists without any probable cause, any assumption of innocence, or any due process.

One can vividly imagine how such lists could be abused by Democrats, who believe the National Rifle Association is a “terrorist organization” and most conservatives are “white supremacists.” Emanuel, for instance, said that the “Proud Boys are a domestic terrorist group” that would fall under the law. Whatever you think of members of the Proud Boys or Antifa, or whatever group you find most detestable, they are made up of individuals. Emanuel wants to divest adherents of their constitutional rights for thought crimes. That’s not how this works.

— David Harsanyi in Rahm Emanuel: Hey, Let’s Strip Gun Owners of Due-Process Rights

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

51 COMMENTS

    • they’re full of ideas…also full of something else….at least half the “shrinks” i’ve met look like they could use one themselves!….

  2. Remember when this brilliant man solved the “gun violence” problem of Chicago when he was the mayor?

    • Gun violence in Chicago? I’ve never heard if such a thing! The media never even talks about it!

      All kidding aside, I am in favor of no new gun laws, and rolling back several of the gun laws we have on the books. Biden is one of those creepy pervert uncles who sniffs little girls’ hair and gives those hugs that last way too long, but he TECHNICALLY doesn’t rape. By the same token, he TECHNICALLY isn’t confiscating ALL your guns. He just wants to confiscate THOSE guns.

      As the line goes in “My Fellow Americans” (1996, starring Jack Lemmon and James Garner), “Do not fall into the trap. Democrats are full of crap.”

      • You’re damn right! Using your finger doesn’t count!

  3. how such lists could be abused by Democrats, who believe the National Rifle Association is a “terrorist organization” and most conservatives are “white supremacists.

    You mean like the Homeland Security report in 2009 that identified “returning veterans” as terrorist risks? How could something like THAT ever be abused… Hmmmmm, who was POTUS and VP in 2009 and wasn’t Emanuel like White House Chief of Staff or something?… Too bad he’s not gay or transsexual or a “woman of color” he could probably get a job in the braindead/cackler administration…

    • If I’m not mistaken, he was being considered for the position of embassador to Japan by sleepy Joe. Can you imagine the senate vote on that…. BOTH sides dislike the jackass.

      • Can you imagine the senate vote on that…. BOTH sides dislike the jackass.

        Mar 25, 2021 · Tammy Duckworth of Minnesota and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii publicly informed the White House that until the Biden administration puts more people they like in powerful jobs, they will refuse to confirm any white nominees. Quote, “I’m a no vote on the floor on all non-diversity nominees,” Duckworth said, out loud with cameras rolling. I will vote for racial minorities and I will vote for LGBTQ, but anybody else I’m not voting for. Just in case you missed it or are unclear on the meaning… Duckworth said this several times. And then Mazie Hirono backed her up. Here is Hirono yesterday on MSNBC… SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): Tammy’s position is that until she gets a commitment from the White House that there will be more diversity representation in the Cabinet and senior White House advisory positions, she will not vote to confirm anyone who does not represent diversity.

        NOTHING racist about “ANY” of our U.S. Senators… And, I’m pretty sure there is “NOTHING” unconstitutional about ignoring a persons qualifications in favor of race, sex OR sexual proclivity… These HACKS need to be removed from office…

        • Slight correction. Tammy Duckworth is United States senator from Illinois. That unfortunately makes her “my” senator.

        • Whoa… we’ve got more than our fair share of nutjob women in the government up here in Minnesota, but don’t blame Duckworth on us. She comes from Illinois via Hawaii via born in Thailand… not that she wouldn’t feel right at home here, though….

        • I did not mean to disparage MN. OR slight IL, I merely pulled that information from an existing story from FOX NEWS… Anyway it appears that NOW they have both changed their minds (go figure) and WILL continue to vote for ALL Biden appointees (threats or payoffs?) Again, my apologies to MN AND IL… But suck on it Hawaii, Hirono IS YOUR problem…

        • Tammy Duckworth has served with honor and distinction, she has sacrificed more for this country than any of you keyboard commandos.

          She repeatedly flew into harms way in service of this country, an RPG round hit her aircraft and she lost both legs but she didn’t stop.

          She continues to serve our country in the United States Senate, and I have no problem with her urging diversity in cabinet appointments. Personally, now that trumps billionaire cabinet is gone, I’d like to see more folks who work for a living rather than trust fund babies like Betsy DeVos or Rothchild agents like Wilbur Ross or Chinese communist agents like Elaine Chao.

        • she has sacrificed more for this country than any of you keyboard commandos.

          YOU project your worthless existence on others whom you know nothing about, that’s all you’ve got that keeps you from blowing your own brains out, please give in to the urges.. I gave more to this country before my 21st birthday than YOU or that Liberal bitch have done in your entire lives… The only thing either one of you have served is yourselves… National Guard helicopter pilot that got caught up in a war she never expected and got hit, nothing special about that, not the first and damn sure won’t be the last, used that to get elected, draws retirement/disability, plus a fat paycheck, good for her.. So WTF have YOU done?…

        • Since Democrats don’t understand what racism and bigotry is (because they refuse to look in the mirror), you have to get them to change the wording to see if it sounds racist, etc.

          Example: “I’m a no vote on the floor on all BLACK nominees,” Duckworth said, out loud with cameras rolling. I will vote for WHITE PEOPLE and I will vote for CIS GENDER HETEROSEXUALS, but anybody else I’m not voting for.

          How would that fly on the evening news? It would be a shitstorm, but the reaction shouldn’t be any different from the nonsense that spewed from that woke idiot’s mouth.

    • You mean like the Homeland Security report in 2009 that identified “returning veterans” as terrorist risks? How could something like THAT ever be abused…

      You mean the report that has recently been dusted off and placed at the top of the DHS agenda?

    • In light of the now revealed activities of the oath keepers in the proud boys, looks like the actual findings of the report may prove to be correct:

      “The report says that “right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat. These skills and knowledge have the potential to boost the capabilities of extremists — including lone wolves or small terrorist cells — to carry out violence.” The report mentions Timothy McVeigh as an example of a veteran who associated with an extremist group after Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1991. (McVeigh’s 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City killed 168 people.)“

      • Miner, we have read the report. It means nothing, other than projecting beliefs of the authors. Using anecdotal “evidence” or an isolated incident in an attempt to support an opinion is hardly proof.

        MAJ Nidal Hasan was on active duty when he went on his Islamic Extremist terrorist attack. So does that mean Army Majors are extremist, or just Army Muslims?

        In the last year, who has been responsible for the most property damage, violent assaults and lawlessness; Antifa/BLM or Proud Boys/Oath Keepers?

    • “If you concede that the government the Second Amendment was intended to allow you to protect yourself from, should it become necessary, has the authority to create, maintain and enforce lists of persons who, in the opinion of that same government, may not exercise their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms, how will you keep your name off of their lists?” – Clifford Heseltine, ©2015 (permission granted to use this quote, with attribution)

      The Second Amendment does not say, “…the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed, unless they have committed domestic violence or seem crazy.”

      The point of the 2A is the ability to SHOOT BACK in your own and other’s defense.

    • Socialist Justice. Best to have thousands of innocents suffer than to let one guilty person get away. Attributed to Joseph Stalin.

  5. I dont have any flys or watches, yes by all means pass law idea 1&2 spend about 4 years doing it. Hash about it, throw accusations, bi partizen agreements, more mud slinging, start up some donating organizations and pass a DV =no gunms and fruit cake law. Sounds good.

  6. Yeah you did a helluva job in Chiraq little fella…resurrect Richard J. Daley. He’s the prick America needs😏

  7. He can’t be serious, can he…??? IF his “ideas” are so great, why didn’t he implement them when he was the mayor in chicago…???

      • No they didn’t. He just didn’t run again. Chicago is a city composed of Communist sheep and had Emanuel run again he surely would have run.

  8. The idea here is to confiscate the guns of American citizens who’ve been arbitrarily placed on various secret government no-fly and watch lists without any probable cause, any assumption of innocence, or any due process.

    I’m sure I’ve brought this up before, but it’s worth stating again: It is a major short-term goal of the Civilian Disarmament movement to establish a discretionary executive-branch veto on gun ownership, by hook or by crook. “No Fly, No Buy” is just one incarnation of it. Removing the time limit on background checks (sold as “closing the Charleston loophole”, but really “creating a bureaucratic inaction loophole”) was another. Remember when the Social Security Administration under Obama decided to appoint themselves a “competent authority” to declare people as “mentally defective”? That was another. It appears in many guises, but they all boil down to one thing – allowing the Executive Branch to strip people of 2nd Amendment rights at any time, for any reason they deem sufficient.

  9. IF his “ideas” are so great,

    Strange as it may sound, his “IDEAS” are already laws on the books (except the super secret “no fly” list thing) and ALL he had to do was tell his cops to ENFORCE existing laws… But, that’s kind of hard when you’re one of three or four people in the country not familiar with current gun laws…

  10. If anyone needs to be jailed for thought crimes it’s this pathetic bastard. He’s a traitor simply by his desire to deny/deprive a Constitutional right. Both he and Eric-the-Hater Holder should’ve been jailed long ago.

  11. No, no, you see, when he says “a record” of DV or mental illness, he means any rumor, accusation, or anonymous report. Ever. In your whole life.

  13. Ah shucks, I was going to go fishing but the winds out of the North. Guess I’ll just stay home and count my bullets. , Ah one, well that didn’t take long.

    • Yeah, I used my empty ammo safe in the garage as a spare refrigerator over the winter… now that it’s getting nicer outside I just look inside of it and make myself sad. Real sad.
      Almost terrible sad. Now accepting donations.

      • , I used my empty ammo safe in the garage as a spare refrigerator over the winter

        I’d love to help but then I’d need to find a purpose for MY “SPARE” ammo safe (which IS an old refrigerator), hint I already have ALL the functioning refrigerators I can use….

        • Well, if it was full I’d be grinning like a little kid again….. do it for the children !!!

        • do it for the children

          My children (all grown of course) paid attention to me (for once) and stocked their own ammo… We are pretty well set, just a lot fewer trips to the range and a lot of work on stealth techniques to get closer to game for THAT shot…

  14. Sadly, the unintended but predictable consequence of mental health disqualifications is that it discourages those in need of such services from applying, as they don’t wish to give up their firearms for some minor issues following a divorce, death of a loved one, etc..

  15. First, there is no such thing as “Gun Violence”. An inanimate object cannot be violent. Only people can be violent, or peaceful, etc.

    Second, it doesn’t matter to these anti-gun idiots what laws are on the books but not enforced as they should be. They are scared, and sharing their fear brings them votes. So, they continue to encourage stupid, silly, meaningless fears.

    Get’s them elected!

  16. Honestly, I have no problem with Emanuel wanting “NEW” laws that are already “on the books”.. As long as they are wasting their time writing, arguing and passing redundant laws they are not making any significantly impactful actual new laws affecting lawful gun owners… and they can say “look what we did” as they fire up the cigars and slap each other on the back… best part is that IF someone points out that the law already exists… They’ll just strike the old one and replace it with the new one wasting even more of their time… Cost? doesn’t matter, they get paid the same no matter what they do or don’t do…

  18. I was on the no fly list and was able to clear my name by going through the GOES program. I’m a US citizen born in Tennessee, in my late 50’s, and I’ve had one moving violation ticket in my life which was in 1982. I got placed on the list and they tell me it’s because of a common name. So, without any due process, you can be labeled a terrorist and that’s it. No guns for you. I actually had a haughty liberal anti gunner tell me that I must have done something; they just don’t place people on the list. I asked him what Ted Kennedy did as he’s on it and got no response. (I could probably name something Kennedy did!)

    • (I could probably name something Kennedy did!)

      I don’t know… Devout Catholic, US Senator, Brother of a POTUS AND an AG/presidential candidate, strong New England family name… What could you POSSIBLY dig up on the “Lion of the Senate”… May he rest (rot) in peace (hell)…

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