Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie blasted the Department of Justice following the announcement of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center.
On Saturday, the Department of Justice announced the launch of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center, known as ERPO, which, according to a department press release, “will provide training and technical assistance to law enforcement officials, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, clinicians, victim service and social service providers, community organizations, and behavioral health professionals responsible for implementing laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of people who pose a threat to themselves or others.”
In other words, the federal government is now making more of its taxpayer-funded resources to support and promote jurisdictions with so-called “red-flag” laws — which allow law enforcement officials, or in some cases, family members, social workers, teachers, and others to petition judges for orders to seize guns from those considered a risk to themselves or others.
“DOJ waited until the omnibus passed before announcing the new National Red Flag Center, so you wouldn’t know what the omnibus money is being spent on,” said Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie on X.
“What the hell is this evil? A Federal Red Flag center; We did not authorize this. Announced, of course, just hours after the omnibus passes,” said Massie on X.
The DOJ noted that 21 states and the District of Columbia have enacted red-flag laws.
According to the gun-control group Everytown for Gun Safety, that list includes only two red states: Florida and Indiana.
Florida adopted its law after the February 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which left 17 students and faculty dead and 17 others wounded.
Read: Florida Gov. DeSantis, Cabinet Approve Largest Investment In Decades For Conservation Lands
“The launch of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center will provide our partners across the country with valuable resources to keep firearms out of the hands of individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
The establishment of the Center is the latest example of the Justice Department’s work to use every tool provided by the landmark Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to protect communities from gun violence.”
The press release noted that the DOJ has dangled big bucks in front of states to encourage such laws.
In 2023, President Joe Biden’s Justice Department gave $238 million to states, territories, and D.C. “to help jurisdictions implement crisis intervention strategies, including ERPO programs,” the release said.
Read: Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz Slams Democrats For “Tyrannical” Gun Grab Bill
The DOJ added than the new center “will support states, local governments, law enforcement, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, clinicians, victim service providers, and behavioral health and other social service providers in their efforts to implement ERPO programs to fit local needs, share resources and promising practices with the field, and help ensure that funding received [from the department] is effectively utilized.”
In a statement, Assistant Attorney General Amy Solomon said, “This crisis cannot be solved at one level of government. We must use all of our resources and collaborate at the federal, state, and local levels to find innovative, evidence-based, and holistic solutions to help keep American communities safe.”
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