A Resounding Vote Against Due
Process and the Second Amendment
By Jacob Sullum . November 10th, 2016
Like a California law that took effect last January, the gun control initiative that Washington voters overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday authorizes court orders that deprive people of the right to arms without due process. In fact, Initiative 1491, which was backed by Gov. Jay Inslee and attracted support from 71 percent of voters, is even less respectful of due process and the Second Amendment.
Both laws allow police officers and other concerned, meddlesome, or possibly malicious individuals to ask a judge for a "gun violence restraining order" (in California) or an "extreme risk protection order" (in Washington), which prohibits its target from buying or possessing firearms and requires him to surrender any he already owns. In California, orders can be requested by "immediate family member[s]," a category that includes spouses, domestic partners, current or former roommates, parents, step-parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, step-grandparents, siblings, step-siblings, siblings-in-law, children, stepchildren, children-in-law, and grandchildren.
The authors of Initiative1491 thought that list was not long enough, so they added "dating partners," baby mamas (or papas), former legal guardians, and all relatives, including aunts, uncles, and cousins. They also extended the deadline for a former roommate (which could be an ex-spouse or ex-lover) seeking an order from six months after moving out to a year. ...... 
It is almost beyond belief that voters would choose something that could so easily strip someone's constitutional rights - dangerously so. Two things show as being of paramount importance - 1)Where is due process? - and 2) What an ideal mechanism for disgruntled people to fabricate a 'reason' for a judge to issue an order against a person who just happens to have 'upset' another. This almost seems like anti-Second Amendment subterfuge.
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