We Now Live In A Police State

I had a comment from an anonymous reader on the post I wrote entitled Eric Swalwell:Tyrant Wannabe that bitterly noted he might get into a firefight with police who showed up at his house to take his guns. I advised that it might be better to settle the matter in court than to fight it out with police on the spot. But, from my comments you might think I am sympathetic with so called "Red Flag" laws. Nothing could be further from the truth. I believe these laws to be Unconstitutional on several grounds. Of course, as always, others seem to write what I am thinking more succinctly than I can, so I present William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism piece entitled "Red Flag Laws": Rights Cannot Be Suspended, Only Violated by Thomas L. Knapp.

Rights are inherent characteristics possessed by all human beings, not privileges to be granted or withheld at the whim of a bureaucrat in a black dress. And the point of the 5th Amendment’s due process clause is precisely to protect the life, liberty, and property of Americans against arbitrary judicial edicts. Under the US Constitution, “laws” which violate those protections are null and void.

This point is true, but just as it is prudent to back off when a 18 wheeler wants to violate your right of way in traffic, so it makes sense to let the police have your guns for now, then sue to get them back. Should it be this way? Hell no. But reality is often far different from theory. In this case, the violation is of the 5th Amendment rights. The 5th Amendment states:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

As an example of one such law in action the reader is pointed to the Maryland case of Gary Willis, who answered his door at 5:00am to find, unexpectedly, police at his door. Like any reasonable person, getting a knock on the door at 5:00 in the morning, he had a gun in his hand. Who wouldn't? Having no knowledge of the proceedings against him, he would not suspect that the police arrived at that uncivilized hour to seize his property. I would just be making coffee. The police seeing his gun, naturally shot him. Why the police chose 5:00am to deliver the news that he was about to have his 5th Amendment rights violated was never asked, evidently. Who made the accusation, we can not know. Neither, apparently, can the accused. Due process involves the accused facing his accuser, and offering evidence in his defense. None of these things happened in Gary Willis's case.

Neither the cops who killed Willis, nor the judge who sent them to do so, will likely be held accountable for the killing of a man accused of no crime and minding his own business on his own property. That’s the very definition of lawlessness.

Why did a judge order police to steal Willis’s guns? We’re not allowed to know. The contents of such orders are considered state secrets.

What might we call a system under which anonymous judges can secretly order anonymous police officers to expropriate property from citizens who have neither been accused of nor convicted of crimes, on pain of death for resistance?

The only term that seems to fit is “police state.”