The Justice Department launched a sweeping new power law called the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center, or ERPO. It sounds like a lot because it is a lot. It gives them the power to train, assist, and advise on laws for pretty much every government and non-government agency in the name of keeping “guns out of the hands of people who pose a threat to themselves or others.”
The Details
ERPO is not only a new department, it is a new set of laws that allows the federal government to prevent some people from owning a gun and also take guns away from anyone that they deem an “extreme risk.” The problem lies in the government’s assessment of extremism. President Biden says that anyone who supports the MAGA movement is extreme so will that be used to determine who can and cannot have a gun?
Representative Thomas Massey calls it a Federal Red Flag Center. It lets the Justice Department decide who is an “extreme risk” and communicate that to law enforcement officials, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, clinicians, victim service and social service providers, community organizations, and behavioral health professionals. It also allows family members to report ERPO concerns if they think a member of their household should not have a gun. Did they borrow this from Orwell’s 1984 on purpose?