Donald Willey, a member of the Second Amendment Foundation, challenged a Maryland red flag law after his firearms were seized under state's regulations. Willey argued that the red flag law lacked adequate procedural safeguards to protect individuals' constitutional rights, allowing for the seizure of firearms based on insufficient or unverified claims, thus infringing upon due process. A campaign is escalating against red flag gun laws, which enable authorities to confiscate firearms from individuals deemed a threat. Led by organizations such as the Second Amendment Foundation, critics argue these laws violate constitutional rights, The Trace reports. They claim that red flag laws, often enacted to prevent violence, violate due process and civil liberties.
In August 2023, the foundation sued in federal court on Willey's behalf. Willey was the subject of a false red flag petition, the suit asserted, and his constitutional rights had been violated. Moreover, Willey’s attorney said Maryland’s red flag law was “unconstitutional on its face.” The foundation is using Willey's case to promote its nationwide legal campaign called Capture the Flag, which could render unconstitutional the red flag laws adopted in nearly two dozen states. All of the red flag laws adopted in recent years were “conceptually identical and structurally similar,” the foundation maintains, saying that they violated the “history and tradition” guideline set out by the Supreme Court in its Bruen decision as well as the Fourth and 15th Amendments, which guard against search and seizure without probable cause and the deprivation of due-process rights.
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