Visiting Column #21 -- Poll Weevils

I am not one of those people who complains about polls because "Well, they never call me!".  They do indeed call me, and even when it's not a campaign season I get called about polls for this or that topic, including yes, whom I would vote for if the election were held today.

The topic of polls struck me a bit today when I saw one on TV.  The topic was what are called "red flag laws", and they concern the broader topic of gun control.  Red flag laws are laws which would allow jurisdictions to decline to issue firearms permits, or even seize weapons from, people who had somewhere written or recorded themselves in some way to give the impression that they would pose a threat to another person and therefore should be denied their Second Amendment rights.

The poll was phrased ... well, they didn't say how it was phrased, so we have to assume the simplest, which is that respondents were simply asked "Do you favor red flag laws, which allow government authorities to deny firearms ownership permits to, or seize weapons from, people who have documented mental instability or have made specific threats to others?"

Or something like that, in fifth-grade English.

At any rate, the results were not unexpected.  About 57% of respondents to the poll were in favor of such laws, 22% were opposed, and 19% had no opinion.  What, I thought to myself, would I have answered, had I been polled on that question?

Needless to say, I couldn't answer.  Well, the "needless to say" part is because as you might have guessed if you've read the preceding 1,020 columns, I very much appreciate the fact that many things are not black and white.  Red flag laws are definitely not black and white.

Laws are not concepts; they are, well, laws.  They are black and white, in that they specifically state what you can and cannot do, the conditions that apply, and the penalty for violation.  You want to have a law, you can't waffle.

I am probably OK with the red flag concept, at least as a "concept."  We already have classes of people to whom it is illegal to sell firearms, so that is not new ground.  If we are putting red flags on people who make overt threats, or who display disturbed writings online to where the "reasonable man" test would lead you to not think their being armed is a good idea, well, I can handle that.

But here's the problem.  It's called "subjectivity", and I don't trust government at any level to execute it.

At what point, we must ask, does a red flag get thrown?  That's really the problem of subjectivity.  Somewhere between a Facetwit post that says "I'm gonna get you!" and one that says "I'm gonna kill you!", perhaps.  What actually constitutes sufficient threat?  Who decides what is sufficient evidence of mental instability?  Would you want to be entrusted with limning the distinction and setting the point at which there is enough evidence of a threat to take someone's Constitutional rights away?  I didn't think so.

I don't want that responsibility, and I don't think that you do, and I absolutely know I don't want that done by some faceless government bureaucrat.  At best, I would consider Congress laying down some pretty clear guidelines (don't hold your breath), and then letting some challenge get up to the Supreme Court to validate it with perhaps even more guidance, the kind that lets the wrongly flagged person appeal.

So sure, but if I believe all that, how am I supposed to answer the poll?  I'm only "for" red flag laws if the criteria are well-defined and laid out and administered properly; I'm "against" them otherwise.  I'm certainly not "undecided."  They give me one choice to make. Yuk.

And if that weren't enough ...

There's the whole 'nother shoe.  That is, let's suppose that someone is denied a permit, red-flagged by some nameless government bureaucrat for an Instaface post that was misinterpreted totally and didn't represent any kind of a threat in context. What is the appeal process for that? 

No, really -- ask yourself this:
- Who actually hears the appeal?
- What evidence is needed to show a rational state of mind?
- Is the presumption innocence or guilt?
- What process is needed in order to execute the reversal?
- Is there an appeal of the appeal (if, say, a total anti-gun judge hears the first one)?

As I said, I'm OK with the consideration of red flag laws.  But if the execution, the logistics, the actual legislation and the details are full of devils, well, there's no way a poll can accurately represent my view.

So, I guess, stop asking me if you don't want the full answer.

Copyright 2019 by Robert Sutton
Like what you read here?  There are over 1,000 posts from Bob at www.uberthoughtsUSA.com, and after four years of writing a new one daily, he still posts thoughts once in a while as "visiting columns", no longer the "prolific essayist" he was through 2018, but still around.  Appearance, advertising, sponsorship and interview inquiries cheerfully welcomed at bsutton@alum.mit.edu or on Twitter at @rmosutton