State governments should have red flag laws. The federal government should not.

Many people oppose red flag laws on the grounds that it allows the police to take a person′s guns away even though they have not been convicted of a crime. This law is meant for mentally ill people who may have legally acquired a gun in the past, but are now considered to be a threat to themselves or others. As things already stand, people who are legally insane can lose a lot of civil liberties even if they have not committed a crime. They can lose their driver′s license. A family member can obtain a guardianship of a mentally ill person, and have power of attorney over them without their consent. They can be put into a institution against their will. They can be forcibly strapped to a bed for days.

Very few of these laws are controversial enough to generate social media outrage. I have yet to hear of a mental institution that allow patients to keep firearms, and nobody is lobbying them to change this policy. At the same time, for both financial and compassionate reasons, not every mentally ill person belongs in an institution. Most mentally ill people are allowed to walk the streets, ride the bus, and go grocery shopping unattended. Many of them have the ability to cook and clean for themselves. But just because a person can be trusted with a microwave does not mean that they can be trusted with a pistol. Taking away a person′s guns is far more humane and compassionate than locking him up in a place where he won′t have access to them anyway.

To be sure, such laws have potential for abuse. Most good laws do, just as guns have the potential to be misused. A liberal daughter might have her conservative father′s guns taken away out of spite. There should be clear standards on when the police should be allow to intervene. There should be evidence of diminished capacity: repeatedly irrational behavior, delusional beliefs, etc. Under Indiana′s red flag law, a person who had his guns taken away may ask a judge if they can be returned to him. Even if the judge says no, a person who is mentally competent would have very little trouble rearming himself.

A few people seem to fear that red flag laws would be used as a pretext to rid the entire country of guns. This is why the federal government should not pass a red flag law. Ultimately, state and local governments are responsible for protecting citizens. If a man has to have his guns taken away, it should be because his wife reported to the local police that he has been drunk for six days straight and he has guns laying around the house, not because the FBI didn′t like a Pepe meme that he posted.