Media

‘That’s Not What Risk Protection Orders Do’: Byron Donalds Pushes Back Against Tapper Over Gun Laws

[Screenshot CNN]

Brianna Lyman News and Commentary Writer
Font Size:

Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds pushed back against CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday as the two discussed gun control laws.

Tapper opened the segment playing a recent clip from Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee in which he called for removing firearms from persons with mental illness. Tapper asked Donalds for his reaction.

“The issue with red flag laws is that the U.S. citizen who somebody thinks might have mental health issues, their property is taken from them and then they have to go to court to get their property back if its found out the mental health claims are actually invalid,” Donalds said, arguing it’s a violation of individual rights.

“As you noted, you voted, when you were in the Florida legislature, against red flag laws, risk protection orders, that was in the wake of the Parkland school shooting, that was passed by the Republican led legislature and signed by Republican Governor-then Rick Scott,” Tapper said, before playing a clip from Sheriff Grady Judd who recently said risk protection orders work.

“He said they work,” Tapper said. “This conservative sheriff says that law saves lives.”

“Look, Grady Judd is a great sheriff in our state but on the implication about protecting constitutional rights, that’s where he and I disagree,” Donalds said. “Like I said, if there is a process upon which people have to go adjudicate their mental health first before their property is taken away from them, that’s one thing, but that’s not what risk protection orders do.”

“Risk protection orders take away your property, and then you have to go to court to get your property back. That is a fundamental taking under the United States Constitution,” he continued. (RELATED: ‘Please Don’t Punish Him’: Mother Of Louisville Shooter Called 9-1-1 As Mayhem Unfolded At Bank)

“I understand your point but what about the constitutional rights of those three nine year olds at Covenant School in Nashville, or the three faculty and staff members or the five individuals killed at the Louisville bank, they have the constitutional right to life and I understand your concerns about the Second Amendment rights of an individual, but don’t those rights matter less than the individual right to live?”

“Well actually Jake, I think you’re conflating ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ is in the Declaration of Independence, not the United States Constitution,” Donalds shot back. “We all want to protect life at all times but that doesn’t mean you get to abridge rights of American citizens … If you want to go through the legal process and adjudicate mental health, I’m all for that. But you can’t take somebody’s property from them and then they have to petition the court to get their stuff back. That’s the wrong way to go.”

Three children and three staff members were killed in Nashville after a transgender shooter opened fire at a Christian elementary school. A 25-year-old fatally shot five on Monday at a Louisville bank.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel