163 Lawmakers Urge Removal of NDAA Statute Confiscating Soldiers’ Guns

Reps. Richard Hudson (R-NC), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), and 161 other lawmakers sent a September 29, 2021, letter to House and Senate Armed Services Committees urging the removal of the red flag provision from the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

On September 23, 2021, Breitbart News reported that the 2020 NDAA contained a provision allowing military courts to restrain military personnel from “possessing, receiving, or otherwise accessing a firearm.”

The provision appears under the subtitle, “Restrictions On Access To Firearms,” contained in Sec. 529 of the NDAA, which outlines the directives for protective orders. It gives military courts the authority to prohibit gun possession via protective orders in two ways:

1. By giving the subject of the order an “opportunity to be heard on the order.”
2. By issuing the order ex parte.

Rep. Bice tweeted against the red flag provision on September 29, 2021, writing:

Today, Rep. Richard Hudson & I, along with 161 of our colleagues, sent a letter to the chairman & ranking members of the House & Senate Armed Services Committees, urging full removal of a “red flag” provision in the House NDAA during the conference committee process.

Rep. Hudson issued a press release on Wednesday as well, calling out the red flag provision as “gun confiscation.”

Hudson said:

The National Defense Authorization Act funds our entire Defense Department for the year and included provisions I secured critical for our troops and Fort Bragg. While I was proud to support these provisions, I strongly opposed Democrats once again inserting a section on red flag laws that threaten the Second Amendment rights of our servicemembers.

Like last year, I am proud to help lead efforts to ensure these provisions are removed from the final bill as the process continues between the House and Senate. I thank Congresswoman Bice for her leadership on this issue and will continue to do everything possible to support our troops and defend our Second Amendment.

The letter signed by Hudson, Bice, and other lawmakers is short and to the point, saying, in part:

[W]e write to strongly urge you to strike Sec. 529 of the House version, H.R. 4350. We are greatly concerned that if enacted, Sec. 529 would violate the Second Amendment rights of our nation’s brave servicemembers by allowing military judges and magistrates to issue military court gun confiscation orders.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.