Kellyanne Conway said Wednesday President Donald Trump “introduced the idea” of red flag laws, despite 17 states and Washington D.C. already having them on the books as early as 1999.
“First of all, it is the president two days ago in his address to the nation if not the world that he introduced the idea of the red flags. And that is the red flag legislation, of course, would help in an emergency situation to keep guns, firearms out of hands of violent criminals,” Mrs. Conway said on Fox News.
When Fox News’ Bill Hemmer pointed out that “red flag laws are already in place” in “17 states and Washington D.C.,” Mrs. Conway agreed and said Mr. Trump “is calling on the federal legislature to take the best practices from the states and put it into federal legislation.”
The majority of red flag laws — which allow the ability to petition a court to have a person’s firearms taken away if they could possibly endanger themselves or others — were enacted after the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida.
The discussion of red flag laws and other protections against guns come after Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas Wednesday after the two cities experienced a mass shooting over the weekend that left over 30 people dead combined.
President Trump is en route to El Paso after paying a visit to Dayton earlier Wednesday.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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