War veteran victimized by New York's red flag gun law

FPI / November 24, 2019

A recent incident in New York’s Putnam County is a prime example of “what advocates of red flag laws have asked for,” a columnist noted.

Pushed by leftist politicians, led by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York’s Red Flag Law, also known as the extreme risk protection order law, prevents individuals who show signs of being a threat to themselves or others from purchasing or possessing any kind of firearm.

On Friday, a 28-year-old Afghanistan war veteran, who is popular on Instagram under the handle WhiskeyWarrior556, “fell victim” to New York’s Red Flag Law, Taylor Day wrote for American Thinker on Nov. 24.

“A militarized police force, ignoring due process completely, confiscated the property and the civil rights of a U.S. citizen because of nothing more than the opinion of an associate,” Day wrote.

Police showed up at Alex’s workplace “and tried to arrest him over social media posts reported to them by an old army buddy,” Day wrote.

Alex, “slipped out of the back door, and hurried home to check on his family where he found out police had already forced themselves into his home and confiscated his legal firearms after threatening his wife with calling child protective services to remove her newborn child. Alex then barricaded himself inside his own attic, unarmed. Law enforcement officers followed him, blocked off the road to all traffic and a seven-hour standoff began.”

When the standoff was over, Putnam County Sheriffs, SWAT team and local police, “armed with their own automatic rifles with 30 round magazines, arrested Alex for possessing a ‘high capacity magazine’ for his legal AR-15,” Day wrote. “In New York, ‘high capacity magazines’ are defined as any magazine that can hold more than seven rounds. Although a plastic box that holds 30 cartridges at one time are standard for this type of firearm, some lawmakers somewhere else believed they knew better and forced that decision upon this American war veteran.”

Alex updated his followers on Instagram with video and commentary, also posting screenshots of his SMS conversation with police negotiators. Friends who were in contact with him also shared their conversations via social media.

“Alex told one friend that the man who called in the red flag law lied to police by telling them that Alex suffered from PTSD,” Day wrote. “Putnam County Sheriffs reiterated this, claiming that this was a mental health issue, but offered no evidence of such an allegation.”

Chief Michael Cazzari of the local Carmel Police said in a statement: "This is a person in crisis, having mental illness, having issues and he didn't need the people on social media telling him that his rights are being violated. He needed help. Medical help."

Day wrote: “Because armored vehicles and total barricades are needed when someone just needs ‘medical help.’ Perhaps the police understood that illegally confiscating someone’s property might lead to violence.”

Alex said he finally relented when police threatened once again to take his infant daughter from his and his wife’s custody and, according to police, he was peacefully detained. Though charged with owning the “high capacity magazine,” no charges have been filed as a result of the standoff.

Day concluded: “If the current legal landscape allows for citizens to have their Second Amendment rights stripped from them without any legal opportunity to dissent, what are the next rights to be taken? After all, our rights to speech or religion, or even due process itself, have no obligation to be respected by the government without the right to bear arms. Every gun law, including the ones you agree with, is an infringement on our constitutional rights.”

Free Press International