The Oklahoman

GOP on defense for gun law vote

‘Red flag’ rule part of $770B military bill

- Chris Casteel The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK

A brief section in the 1,360-page national defense bill approved by the House last month has angered gun rights advocates and put Rep. Stephanie Bice and many other Republican lawmakers on the spot for backing legislatio­n primarily aimed at funding troops and weapons systems.

The controvers­y stems from provi

sions in the National Defense Authorizat­ion Act establishi­ng a system for military judges to issue protective orders when a person feels threatened. The protective orders would, among other things, restrain service members from “possessing, receiving, or otherwise accessing a firearm” while the orders were in effect.

Critics say the provisions are the equivalent of so-called “red flag laws” and “extreme risk protection orders” that some states have approved for civilian courts. Those laws allow judges to order firearms temporaril­y removed from the possession of a person deemed to pose an imminent threat.

The National Rifle Associatio­n’s lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislativ­e Action, said in a recent news release that, under the House defense bill, “military personnel could be forcibly disarmed of their lawfully possessed firearms before having so much as an opportunit­y to contest the accusation­s against them and present evidence in their defense.”

Bice, R-Oklahoma City, is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, which crafted the defense bill. The bill was approved by the House on Sept. 23 by a vote of 316 to 113. It authorizes nearly $770 billion for the Department of Defense for 2022 and includes a 2.7% pay hike for uniformed personnel.

The provisions angering gun rights groups were co-authored by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who is also a member of the committee, as part of a proposal to deal with domestic violence in the military by creating a system of military protective orders.

In a news release last year, Speier said the protective order system “would provide better protection for those suffering intimate partner violence while requiring (the Defense Department) to track and report to Congress these cases so that we have the data needed to identify and cut out the root of this ongoing problem.”

Gun control advocates say red flag laws have been upheld as constituti­onal and proven to save lives.

“Extreme risk laws are a precise, evidence-based legal tool to help prevent acts of lethal violence before they occur,” Joshua Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, told the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year.

Bice’s office has received dozens of calls, emails and social media posts complainin­g about the provisions, which would allow, in some cases, orders constraini­ng gun possession before the subject of the protective order has presented his or her arguments.

Bice’s office posted pictures on Facebook last week of the congresswo­man calling constituen­ts to explain her opposition to the provisions.

Responding in writing to a constituen­t on Facebook, Bice said she voted for the defense bill “because it not only funds our military and defense, but provides salary and benefits for our soldiers and retirees. Providing the resources our service members need to defend our nation and defeat our adversarie­s is the greatest responsibi­lity we have here in Congress.”

She said there was no opportunit­y to vote on stripping out the provisions on protective orders but that she would have done so.

“I’ve always opposed red flag laws and am leading the effort to remove that provision from the bill, and am confident it will be removed before the bill is signed into law later this year,” she wrote.

Bice, a freshman who served in the Oklahoma Legislatur­e before being elected to Congress in 2020, voted for a bill in the state Senate last year to prohibit red flag laws at the state and local levels. In her primary campaign for the 5th District congressio­nal seat, Bice emphasized her support of gun rights and the NRA endorsemen­t of her candidacy.

Bice last week spearheade­d a letter to bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees urging that the provisions on firearms possession be removed when a final version of the defense bill is written. The letter was signed by nearly 160 Republican­s, including Reps. Tom Cole, R-Moore, and Frank Lucas, R-Cheyenne, who also voted for the defense bill.

Cole, whose district includes Tinker Air Force Base and Fort Sill, said, “I have been assured by House leadership the ‘red flag’ language in the current bill will not be in the final version of the NDAA (National Defense Authorizat­ion Act) that actually becomes law. I have informed my colleagues that I will reconsider my vote if these provisions remain in the legislatio­n.”

The Biden administra­tion has also expressed reservatio­ns to Congress about the proposed military protective order system, contained in Section 529 of the bill, though objections are not aimed specifically at the red flag provisions.

“Though the Administra­tion sees great benefit in facilitati­ng victim access to protective orders and maximizing such orders’ effectiveness, the Administra­tion believes that additional time is needed in order to study the military judicial resources implicatio­ns of the changes proposed in section 529,” the White House said in a Sept. 21 letter to the House.

The White House recommende­d that a study be completed within one year of the defense bill being enacted, followed by a requiremen­t to develop regulation­s within two years.

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