Red Flag Defense?

[BPTactical]

Hmm, Public servant acting in official capacity:


Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 Criminal Code ? 18-8-403 Official oppression


(1) A public servant, while acting or purporting to act in an official capacity or taking advantage of such actual or purported capacity, commits official oppression if, with actual knowledge that his conduct is illegal, he:
(a) Subjects another to arrest, detention, search, seizure, mistreatment, dispossession, assessment, or lien;  or

(b) Has legal authority and jurisdiction of any person legally restrained of his liberty and denies the person restrained the reasonable opportunity to consult in private with a licensed attorney-at-law, if there is no danger of imminent escape and the person in custody expresses a desire to consult with such attorney.


(2) Official oppression is a class 2 misdemeanor.

[whitewalrus]

Hard to say its illegal when the law allows it, therefore they wouldn't have "actual knowledge" that taking your guns is illegal. Plus isn't it done under a court order?

[BPTactical]

Hard to say its illegal when the law allows it, therefore they wouldn't have "actual knowledge" that taking your guns is illegal. Plus isn't it done under a court order?

True but this "law" is clearly unconstitutional and would it therefore not be illegal?

[whitewalrus]

True but this "law" is clearly unconstitutional and would it therefore not be illegal?

That?s for the courts to determine. Other states have similar laws and have been taking firearms away from people.

Our personal opinion on it being unconstitutional is of little value to the court who will review it.

[kidicarus13]

That?s for the courts to determine. Other states have similar laws and have been taking firearms away from people.

Our personal opinion on it being unconstitutional is of little value to the court who will review it.Truth

[ray1970]

Official oppression is a class 2 misdemeanor.



I?d gladly pay a small fine in order to officially oppress someone.

[FoxtArt]

It seems to me, as a layperson, that the burdens to successfully prosecute someone of a criminal offense (like official oppression) are far, far higher than the burdens needed to issue a warrant permitting a no-knock raid for a red-flag order. So, as a layperson, I think the chance of a prosecution for it is about as likely as Hillary becoming POTUS, vacating the 1986 NFA act and shooting two M60's offhand, one left, one right. Hey, it's not impossible if she worked out a bit, right? Yeah, that's the chances of prosecution for the criminal offense too.

[Zundfolge]

True but this "law" is clearly unconstitutional and would it therefore not be illegal?

The red flag law is legal until its declared unconstitutional by the court. Only then is it illegal. So the only way this thing works is if its overturned by the courts but some jurisdictions keep doing it anyway.

All these "deprivation of rights under color of law" and "oppression" statutes are worthless because the police act as "enforcers of the law" so their actions are seen as defacto legal unless there are extreme circumstances (and most of those involve crooked cops, not simple JBTs "just following orders").

[whitewalrus]

The red flag law is legal until its declared unconstitutional by the court. Only then is it illegal. So the only way this thing works is if its overturned by the courts but some jurisdictions keep doing it anyway.

All these "deprivation of rights under color of law" and "oppression" statutes are worthless because the police act as "enforcers of the law" so their actions are seen as defacto legal unless there are extreme circumstances (and most of those involve crooked cops, not simple JBTs "just following orders").

Yes, this is a good description of it. Unless the LEO is a total crook, they won?t be charged. Think of the few crooked cops that abuse their power for their own gain.

They are just following a law presumed to be constitutional until it?s ruled otherwise.

[spqrzilla]

18 USC 241 and 242

[DavieD55]

There was an interesting discussion about the red flag law during the 4th hour of the Peter Boyles radio show this AM.


https://peterboyles.podbean.com/e/red-flag-gets-closer-sep-10-2019-hr-4/

[Singlestack]

The hard part about red flag laws is they have pretty high public support based on the abusive husband/boyfriend scenario. Many, especially women, are sympathetic to this and may be in an abusive relationship or know someone who is. That is pretty visceral to them vs both actual and potential civil and constitutional rights abuse by courts, law enforcement, etc.