(Written by Kathleen Marquardt, an associate of Tom DeWeese)

My dear friend, Lucinda Sheth, who is politically active, but not a radical in any sense, has addressed the recent Tennessee issue of a “Special Session to push for an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO),” better known as Red Flag Law.[1][2] This session was called by Governor Lee because his ERPO was shot down during the normal legislative session. This is another sneaky way our governments (local, state, and federal) are making laws without going through the proper channels. Ms. Sheth is right on for calling him out.

If you don’t realize this is a set-up, “Tennessee’s Democrat elected officials will embark upon a statewide bus tour to discuss gun violence, which will end at the state capitol on the first day of the August special session on gun control.” [3]

As Karen Bracken, a great Tennessee patriot, put it, they are “… Using the excuse that children being killed by guns in TN is a crisis. Which if you look at the DATA is a complete lie. Perhaps they should look at the cities in which there is strict gun control like Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore. Gun violence is a crisis in these cities because only the law-abiding citizens obey the law. Criminals do not and when they know people are defenseless, they get emboldened.”

Sheth’s letter on behalf of the Roane County Republican Women:

“August 11, 2023

Dear Governor Lee:

You took a solemn oath to uphold our Tennessee State Constitution and our US Constitution. The oath you took means that your Special Session to push for ERPO (Extreme Risk Protection Order) legislation will be an Unconstitutional exercise.

State Legislatures have no constitutional authority to enact into Law whatever a loud, boisterous, organized lobby may happen to believe is a good idea. State Legislatures are created and exist BY the State Constitution – and THAT Document, together with various provisions of the US Constitution have only LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY to make laws restricting arms.

When a person makes a threat about killing people, the ONLY constitutionally acceptable course of action is to treat THAT PARTICULAR PERSON in accordance with the existing criminal laws of the State. Mental Health Systems already have a 72-hour hold process to deal with people who are a danger to themselves and/or others.

There have already been several documented abuses of ERPOs in Florida, Colorado, Virginia, and among several VA Systems. Your ERPO has the potential for mass deprivation of GOD-GIVEN unalienable rights and civil liberties, and that simply cannot be understated in America’s woke psychosis. Those who stray from the politically correct position on masks, vaccines, ”transgender” rights, Drag Queens in libraries and schools, election fraud, inappropriate pornographic LGBT books in schools, BLM, Antifa, or abortion are already placed on the list of domestic extremists/ terrorists at the DHS website. There is the “E” in your ERPO.

It seems that the inmates are running the asylum – and some “conservative” Republicans are willing to hand over the keys to the doors. Do not sacrifice individual liberty for a supposed collective good which is a characteristic of a Soviet-style system.

Call off this Special Session and revisit the solemn oath of office you took. Your ERPO will violate that oath.”

Feeling that she had more to say to the governor, she wrote another letter that adds a few more both pertinent, and elucidating points:

August 10, 2023

Dear Governor Lee:

The loud, hysterical cries that are demanding that the Tennessee government “do something” about “gun violence” are ramping up in the progressive realms of Tennessee, especially Nashville. You, Governor Lee, have heeded their call and have called for a Special Session to implement your ERPO (Extreme Risk Protection Order)…ahem, don’t call it a Red-Flag law even though the end product is identical.

You must understand that there are dangers in “doing something” when rushing to implement major infringements of our 2nd amendment GOD-GIVEN rights. Your ERPO infringement could NOT get passed when the Legislature was IN session, so you have called a special session to get it done. Your ERPO will also have the effect of negating the following GOD-GIVEN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS (of those accused under Red Flag charges) :

The right to face your accuser. The right to due process.

The right of protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The right to be secure in your person, papers, and things.

Remember when the government was tasked to “do something” after the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor? The government “did something” by rounding up Americans of Japanese descent, confiscating all their possessions and putting them in camps! That, too, was a rush to “do something” which is parallel to what you want to do about “gun violence.” Pretty shameful isn’t it!

Your ERPO allows judges to issue an order of confiscation “ex parte” (without you being present) and because it is a civil process you will find yourself without a public defender or any opportunity to defend yourself. Pretty shameful isn’t it!

All of these measures in your ERPO fly in the face of our Federal Constitution that you SOLEMNLY swore an oath to uphold, with your right hand raised and your left hand on the Word of our Holy God. Your ERPO also gravely violates our Tennessee State Constitution that you SOLEMNLY swore to uphold via the same manner! Pretty shameful isn’t it!

The core problem is SIN, which is a moral problem. People who have murder in their hearts and want to kill will use any tool to do it. Laws against murder already exist, but murder still happens…because of SIN, a moral problem.

We implore you to call off the Special Session and stop listening to the siren song of tyranny.

Yes, ERPOs have been enacted in other states, but it should be stopped now. ERPOs are just another way the Cancel Culture crew of communist Marxist, one-world order global elite are taking away our property and rights.

Without the right to property, we are slaves. But that is the point of ERPOs, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), Public/Private Partnerships (PPP), and a slew of rules, law, and executive orders levied on an unsuspecting populace.

Let’s stop this one now. Let the lion roar.

Sources:

[1] https://americanpolicy.org/2023/05/23/unesco-and-red-flag-laws/

[2] https://americanpolicy.org/2019/05/15/red-flag-laws-double-speak-for-gun-confiscation/

[3] https://tennesseestar.com/politics/tennessee-democrats-reveal-gun-control-bus-tour-leading-up-to-special-session/pdabrosca/2023/08/01/

____________________

Kathleen Marquardt has been an advocate for property rights and freedom for decades. While not intending to be an activist, she has become a leader and an avid supporter of constitutional rights, promoter of civility, sound science, and reason. She is dedicated to exposing the fallacies of the radical environmental and animal rights movements. She has been featured in national publications including Fortune, People, the Washington Post, and Field and Stream, as well as television news programs such as Hard Copy, The McLaughlin Group, Geraldo, and many others. Today, she serves as Vice President of American Policy Center. Kathleen now writes and speaks on Agenda21/2030, and its threat to our culture and our system of representative government.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Phone: (540) 341-8911

contact@americanpolicy.org