After $1.2 trillion bill passes, DOJ launches of Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center... how convenient

WASHINGTON, DC - As conservative talk show host Dan Bongino often says, “They hate you.” While this typically refers to Democrats, who are hell-bound and determined to destroy the United States, that statement also applies to many Republicans, in this case, those who voted to approve an omnibus $1.2 trillion spending bill, which we would surmise most of them did not even bother to read.

Buried inside the bill was the launch of the “National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center.” In other words, this is another means for the federal government to seize weapons from law-abiding citizens. 

According to the Washington Examiner, Attorney General Merrick Garland praised the center's launch, taking time out from his politically-motivated hit jobs on former President Donald Trump. 

“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,” Garland said. The announcement's timing, coming only hours after the Democrat-controlled senate approved the spending package to fund the federal government, wasn’t lost on some Republican lawmakers still paying attention. 

“What the hell is this evil? A Federal Red Flag center? We did not authorize this,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) wrote on X. Massie noted the suspicious timing of the announcement as well as others. 

“What part of ‘shall not be infringed’ is hard to understand?” wrote Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), referring to the Second Amendment. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) also slammed the announcement on X. 

“Merrick Garland just announced a massive Red Flag Operation that the DOJ will be running by using EVERY spy tool the US government has in order to violate American’s Second Amendment!! This comes right after [House Speaker Mike] Johnson fully funded Biden’s weaponized DOJ!” 

The original bill to authorize the Extreme Risk Prevention Order Resource Center was passed in 2022 when Democrats controlled the lower chamber. Only four Republicans who voted to pass that measure remain in the House. 

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) responded to the DOJ’s announcement on X by simply writing, “Nope.” 

The DOJ’s press release explained the purpose of the ERPO in the release:

“ERPO laws, which are modeled off domestic violence protection orders, create a civil process allowing law enforcement, family members (in most states), and medical professionals or other groups (in some states) to petition a court to temporarily prohibit someone at risk of harming themselves or others from purchasing and possessing firearms for the duration of the order.” [emphasis added]

The “other groups” portion should concern anyone who believes in the Second Amendment because, under such a provision, anyone could petition a court to violate someone’s right to carry and possess firearms. Likewise, a “family member,” for example, an estranged spouse, could make false claims against the other spouse to take away their guns. In other words, such laws are a “slippery slope." 

The DOJ action follows Biden’s State of the Union address, in which he called out the National Rifle Association. 

‘I’m proud we beat the NRA when I signed [the] most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years because of this Congress. We must now beat the NRA again. I’m demanding a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Pass universal background checks,” Biden mumbled at the time. 

Biden then claimed he “taught the Second Amendment for 12 years” and that “none of this violates the Second Amendment or vilifies responsible gun owners.” It is not known where Biden “taught the Second Amendment.” 

In response to Garland’s announcements, other prominent conservatives slammed the proposal, including radio talk show host Dana Loesch, who previously worked for the NRA:

“This won’t apply to Hunter Biden, illegal aliens, or cartel members that Dems fight to arm. This is an attack on due process and ignores existing law that provides a way to adjudicate someone ineligible. All previous tragedies were preventable without removal of due process.” 

“Hours after 101 House Republicans joined with Democrats to fund a new $200M headquarters for the FBI, the FBI announced they are creating a new national ‘red-flag’ gun control center to seize guns from American citizens,” Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) wrote on X. 

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) wrote on X, “The timing of this is intentional. This is an UNAUTHORIZED attack on our 2nd Amendment.” 

The omnibus bill passed by only six votes in the House, which means if only three Republicans had voted no instead of yes, the measure would have failed. Rep. Scott Perry (R-Penn.) wrote in a press release that 101 Republicans favored the gargantuan spending bill.