YOU MIGHT THINK THIS WOULD BE OBVIOUS TO LAWMAKERS SWORN TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION, BUT NO: Colorado’s Dave Kopel to U.S. Senate committee: “Red Flag” laws must fully respect due process.

Colorado constitutional scholar David Kopel today testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary on the implementation of “Red Flag” gun confiscation laws in the states. Several U.S. senators, including Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, are exploring the idea of giving federal grants to states to implement such laws. Kopel is research director at the Independence Institute*, a free market think tank in Denver, and adjunct professor of constitutional law at Denver University’s Sturm College of Law.

“My testimony will urge that funding be given only to states that fully respect due process. Which definitely does not include Colorado’s HB 1177,” said Kopel.

House Bill 1177 is the Colorado version of a “Red Flag” law, rapidly making its way through the legislature. The bill would establish an Extreme Risk Protection Order, or “ERPO,” system to allow police to seize guns from those considered a threat to themselves or others, based on claims from police, roommates, and ex-spouses and other former romantic partners, among others.

“One crazy ex” is becoming the new standard of justice in Colorado.