Congressmen Work to Remove ‘Red Flag’ Provision from NDAA

A group of 161 congressmen recently urged members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to remove a 'red flag' provision of the House National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that they claim violates U.S. servicemember's Second Amendment rights.

4th District Representative Dan Newhouse, who was part of that group of congressmen, said the provision would have allowed judges to issue military gun confiscation orders without a service member present to defend themselves.

"We believe that every person should have their day in court, should be able to defend their rights and should not have constitutional rights removed without ever being present," stated Newhouse.

Newhouse added that members of the House were not aware of the 'red flag' provision when they voted on the NDAA last month. They have since been verbally reassured that the provision will be taken out.

The letter is as follows:

Dear Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Rogers, Chairman Reed, and Ranking Member Inhofe: 

As you begin the conference committee process to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022, we write to strongly urge you to strike Sec. 529 of the House version, H.R. 4350. We are greatly concerned that if enacted, Sec. 529 would violate the Second Amendment rights of our nation’s brave servicemembers by allowing military judges and magistrates to issue military court gun confiscation orders.  

Even more concerning, under this provision, such an order could be issued by a military court on an ex parte basis – meaning the order could be issued without the servicemember even being present in court to defend themselves. We believe this is a serious breach of due process that demands your full attention. 

Every single day, brave American servicemembers serve in harm’s way to defend our nation, our way of life, and the very constitutional rights that Sec. 529 would erode. This dangerous provision must be excluded from the final package. Again, we ask for your support to strike Sec. 529 of H.R. 4350 from the final conference report of the FY 2022 NDAA. Thank you for your attention to this important matter and please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.