![CNN analyst Paul Callan talks about red flag laws [Screenshot CNN Newsroom]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Screen-Shot-2022-07-06-at-12.05.46-PM-e1657123643438.png "CNN analyst Paul Callan talks about red flag laws [Screenshot CNN Newsroom]")
CNN legal analyst Paul Callan said Wednesday on “CNN Newsroom” that the mass shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Illinois is a “shocking failure” of the state’s red flag law.
Robert Crimo, 21, is accused of opening fire on the parade, killing seven and injuring 24. Crimo is believed to have planned the attack weeks in advance, spokesman for the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force Christopher Covelli said Tuesday during a briefing.
Crimo legally purchased the gun allegedly involved in the deadly shooting despite being on law enforcement’s radar at least twice, Reuters reported. Authorities were first made aware of Crimo in April 2019 when Crimo had attempted suicide, and then again in September of the same year after police were alerted about threats “to kill everyone,” Reuters reported.
Callan then questioned whether red flag laws, which have been on the national stage in recent weeks, are really that effective. (RELATED: Republicans, Independents Fear ‘Red Flag’ Laws Will Be Abused By Government, Poll)
“This is a shocking failure of the Illinois red flag law,” Callan said. “It’s also a shocking failure, I think, of police officials in Highland Park, Illinois. It’s a very affluent town of 30,000 people. I think they have 59 police officers on the force, and I can tell you … in most affluent towns in America, the police chief would know if a kid with a tattoo on his face who’s attempted to commit suicide and subsequently threatened to kill every member of his family, the police chief would know if that kid had a permit to get a weapon. And there was a tremendous failure here that this wasn’t picked up on, and we’ve got a lot of fatalities as a result of that.”
CNN analyst and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe also raised the question Tuesday about how effective red flag laws could be.
“I think — the heart of what we have been talking about a lot lately with these red flag laws. So, you know, there has been a lot of excitement over the fact that the recent national legislation provides incentive to the states to institute red flag laws,” McCabe said. “If we have yet another situation where we have a mass shooter who is putting out plenty of signals that possibly his network of associates and family knew about, but yet no word was ever passed on to law enforcement, really calls into question how effective can these red flag laws possibly be.”