Operation ‘Red Flag’: Disarming Citizens and Arming Illegal Immigrants

The Biden Administration continues to champion efforts to take legally purchased guns away from American citizens after Vice President Kamala Harris touted “red flag laws” as an effort to tackle gun violence during a recent visit to Parkland, FL.

During her visit, the vice president announced the creation of a national office that would focus on the implementation of red flag laws in states that currently have these laws in place. The Department of Justice (DOJ) would oversee the office which raises alarm bells for supporters of the Second Amendment and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are raising concerns that this so-called “red flag” operation would indeed violate the Constitution.

Meanwhile, the courts are telling American citizens that illegal immigrants have the right to legally possess a weapon after an Obama-appointed federal judge in Illinois ruled that our Constitution protects the rights of individuals who enter this country illegally.

Law-abiding American citizens are frustrated, and they have a right to be.

Approximately 986 different bills to restrict gun rights were introduced in the first half of 2023, according to the most recent data available.

My home state of Illinois enacted a law in 2023, Public Act 102-1116, which prohibits the sale and distribution of so-called “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines. Citizens who owned these previously legal weapons could keep them, only if they registered their weapons with the State.

Gun laws do not stop criminals from using guns while committing crimes. Criminals, by definition, do not care about gun laws. Federal law requires a criminal background check for all firearm sales and transfers by licensed dealers. The challenge is that most criminals do not legally obtain their guns.

Moreover, semi-automatic weapons are not the weapon of choice when committing a crime. According to Pew Research Center, in 2020 “handguns were involved in 59% of gun murders and non-negligent manslaughters. Rifles — the category that includes “assault weapons” – were involved in 3% of firearm murders.” This means that approximately 408 people were killed by semi-automatic firearms in 2020.

In Philadelphia, people who are accused of illegally carrying a gun have seen their chances of being convicted in court decline from 63% in 2017 to 49% in 2019.

This is why the recent ruling by an Obama-appointed district court judge for the Northern District of Illinois, Sharon Johnson Coleman, is so concerning.

Judge Coleman ruled that a federal ban on undocumented immigrants owning firearms is unconstitutional and dismissed charges against an illegal named Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, who was arrested in 2020 for violating a federal law which prohibits non-citizens from possessing guns. Judge Coleman’s ruling stated that since this illegal immigrant had no criminal record, and the circumstances behind his arrest were not violent, he should not be deprived of his Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Case in point, being in the United States illegally was not enough cause to deny this individual his Second Amendment rights.

Judge Coleman seems to have forgotten one important fact; being in the country illegally is a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1325, which makes it a felony to unlawfully enter the United States.

In Illinois, it is illegal for a person convicted of a felony to possess a firearm.

Any person desiring to legally purchase a firearm in the state of Illinois must obtain a Firearms Owners Identification Card (FOID Card). To be eligible for a FOID card, amongst other regulations, a person must not be an alien who is lawfully present in the United States.

You cannot even enter a gun shop or buy ammunition without a FOID card in the state of Illinois.

So, this individual’s firearm must have been illegally obtained which is another federal violation. Yet, this Obama-appointed judge ruled that he could keep his weapon and cannot be prosecuted for any of his numerous crimes.

On the flip side, a law-abiding American citizen in Illinois, who legally obtains a firearm is now, by definition, a felon, for not registering his or her weapon with the state police.

The Biden administration’s DOJ may want to think twice before coming after a citizen’s right to bear arms — a right guaranteed by our Constitution. Maybe the government and the judiciary should enforce the gun laws that are already on the books before looking to punish legal gun owners and award criminals.

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Jim Nelles is a Navy veteran and supply chain consultant based in Chicago. His articles have appeared in the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Foxnews.com, and the Daily Wire. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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