The Department of Justice (DOJ) is being accused of weaponizing The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in an effort to bribe pro-gun states to pass gun confiscations measures, according to a letter sent Tuesday.
Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall and Republican West Virginia Rep. Alex Mooney supported by an additional 31 members of Congress sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General Amy Solomon and DOJ Director Karhlton Moore alleging the DOJ had violated federal law by illegally funding red flag laws in states without the proper due process requirements.
“The 117th Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, creating the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program to fund controversial Extreme Risk Protection Order programs—otherwise known as unconstitutional “red flag” gun confiscation orders or GCOs—at the state level,” the letter said.
Joe Biden’s DOJ is illegally distributing millions of dollars to states without ‘red flag’ laws to try and bribe pro-gun states into passing gun confiscation laws. https://t.co/oEKAzpdrs4
— Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) July 25, 2023
Since every “red flag” law in the country lacks sufficient and constitutional due process protections for gun owners, the act mandated that extreme risk protection order programs had to include “at a minimum” 3 specific due process protections which are not in effect in a single state’s existing “red flag” law statutes. Despite no state revising their statutes to comply with the newly passed Safer Communities Act, the DOJ funded states that don’t have red flag laws to “create and implement extreme risk protection order programs,” the letter alleged.
The Congressional members argued the intent of the act was not to require or incentivize states to adopt red flag laws, pointing out that it is illegal to use federal funds to pay for lobbying efforts to influence the adoption of any legislation or law. Yet millions of dollars have been issued by the federal government to states without red flags laws to “work around state legislatures and push the heavy hand of the federal government on law-abiding gun owners,” Marshall declared.
“The very statutes enacted by Congress have been completely ignored by the Biden Administration. The Department of Justice appears to be willing to hand out grant money for gun confiscation to any state that applies—whether or not they have enacted “due process” protections or even have a “red flag” law in the first place!” the letter read. (RELATED: Biden Admin Sends Over $200 Million To States For Gun Crackdown)
Calling the funding a “federal bribe” Congressional members are demanding to know how states and territories without the proper due process requirements are receiving millions in federal funds from the program. They have given Solomon and Moore until August 18, 2023 to respond.