WASHINGTON (WHTC-AM/FM) – When Congress returns to work next month, addressing gun safety legislation in the wake of the El Paso and Dayton mass shootings should be on the proverbial front burner.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee plan on returning to Washington before Labor Day to consider gun violence legislation. From the other side of the political aisle, St. Joseph Republican Representative Fred Upton is a supporter of “red flag” laws that would allow weapons to be seized from those who could be a risk to themselves or others. “It’s common sense,” he said during a Tuesday appearance on “WHTC Morning News.” “Due process is important, and I saw a poll in USA TODAY (that indicated) when the ‘red flag’ legislation is explained to people, 56 percent of Americans strongly support it, (and) another 19 percent support it. When you have something that is a three-and-a-half-to-one issue, it’s time to get something done.”
However, GOP lawmakers who have such sentiments could be getting a backlash from gun rights advocates from home such as one-time Sand Lake Village President Tom Norton, who warned all of the state’s top Republicans, including Upton, that “you may not remain a Republican in good standing, or good conscience, if you stand aside and allow the radical left to confiscate our guns through ‘red flag’ laws.”
Norton is challenging for the Republican nomination in the state’s 3rd Congressional district, in the seat currently held by now-independent Justin Amash.
