The Controversy Surrounding Tennessee's Red Flag Gun Law Proposal

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee's proposed red flag law would allow the state to take firearms from those accused of having a "psychiatric disorder, alcohol dependence, or drug dependence" without offering any evidence that they have committed or planned to commit a crime. The law's broad definition of "serious behavioral condition" could include anyone who has met the psychiatric diagnostic criteria for depression and stopped going to a weekly softball game. Red flag laws are a serious attack on the Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments and give authorities power to work around normal evidentiary standards.