FAUQUIER COUNTY, VA- The State of Virginia, despite masses of Second Amendment advocates expressing their serious concerns, has passed several gun control laws that take effect July 1 of this year.
One of those is a “Red Flag” law, where a person can have their firearms temporarily taken by law enforcement if they’re deemed to be a threat against themselves or others via extreme risk protection order (ERPO).
ERPO’s can be petitioned in court by family members, household members, and law enforcement officers, all of which have to write an affidavit and attest under oath that the information they’re giving is true and correct under penalty of perjury.
In several states, those orders can be obtained by “mental health professionals”, such as a licensed clinical social worker.
Disarmanuts were giddy about this law, despite it completely violating numerous civil rights.
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1220130341337423873
Some of the major argument against Red Flag laws are: What if you piss off your neighbor? What if a “mental health professional” has a bias? What if someone lies under oath?
One man in Virginia is finding out exactly what happens if you do.
The man, we’ll call him Sam, is a Second Amendment advocate, avid shooter, and a former police officer (we are not identifying him because we believe that he is the victim of a crime). He has lived in his neighborhood for two years on a 10-acre plus lot and set up a shooting range on his property in order to safely practice with his guns. It is perfectly legal for him to do that. He even had a retired Green Beret who built JSOC ranges come over to inspect his range for any safety issues.
One couple, Thomas and Julie Duggan, took it upon themselves to try and get shooting completely banned in their neighborhood.
Tom Duggan voiced complaints with the Homeowners’ Association. At an HOA meeting, he wanted all shooting banned, and directly attacked Sam. His main complaint, he said, was that the shooting interferes with his “peace and tranquility.”
Julie Duggan is a high school English teacher in Fauquier County,Virginia. About 3 years ago, she was Sam’s son’s teacher and she assigned his class to write a persuasive essay. Sam’s son wrote the essay on the Second Amendment, which is what first tipped off the Duggan’s as to Sam and his family’s 2A views.
Julie’s Facebook page shows multiple left-wing political propaganda photos, such as the ever-famous vagina hat and a sign that says “The NRA is a terrorists organization”.
Tom Duggan is a “mental health professional”, a licensed clinical social worker. He can testify as an expert witness in court as part of his practice. As such, judges rely on his “expertise”.
Six months ago, Tom and Julie sent an email to the entire neighborhood, including to Sam, saying he thought they should all come together to stop shooting in the area, because a “neighbor” (Sam) had built a shooting range, “which escalated the danger”. The email had a typical anti gun message. “It’s for the kids”.
Two weeks after the email was sent, Sam was driving past Tom, who was “power walking” on the side of the road. Sam saw Tom waving his arms in the rearview mirror. Thinking Tom was having a medical emergency, Sam stopped his truck and opened the door, at which point he could hear Tom yelling and cursing at him.
Because of the problems he’d had with Thomas before, he began recording on his cell phone before approaching Thomas.
Tom told Sam that he almost hit him with his truck, which Sam denied. Tom said Sam was driving “dangerous as shit,” and Sam demanded that Tom stop cursing at him.
A side note, in Virginia it is a misdemeanor to “Curse and abuse another.”
The two exchanged some more words, and Sam told Tom that he was tired of his and his wife’s harassment.
Thomas’ response was a typical anti gun nut’s. He commented on the size of Sam’s penis: “You know what? I hope you feel nice, I hope your penis is big enough, buddy. Because you need to carry that thing all around.”
Thomas was referencing and pointing to the gun on Sam’s hip. (Sam had attended a business meeting, and had taken his suit jacket off when he drove home. He has a valid concealed carry permit. Open carry in Virginia is also legal.)
Sam told Thomas that he’s a former police officer, to which Thomas replied, “You don’t impress me.”
Thomas also said: “You almost fucking hit me!”
And: “Fuck off, man!”
Here is the video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o3gmo00OHGH-IuIDVDVYPgOhzggeZxJH/view?usp=drivesdk
Two weeks after that, Sam was served by the Sheriff’s Office with a warrant for assault and battery, and reckless driving.
In Virginia, when a misdemeanor is committed outside of a police officer’s presence, a private citizen can swear out a statement, under oath, by affidavit, and a warrant will be issued.
Sam’s attorney is a skilled and experience litigator. She did two things. First, she hired a private investigator to interview other people in the neighborhood. That investigation turned up something quite disturbing. Someone had slandered Sam, calling him a “dirty cop”, and claiming that Sam had suffered an “on duty psychiatric injury”, which left him “mentally unstable”, and should therefore be ineligible to own guns. It was an obvious deliberate attempt to set the stage for a red flag law claim.
The second thing that Sam’s attorney did was discuss the case with the prosecutor. She informed the prosecutor that she has prior experience with Thomas Duggan as a witness, and she had seen him get angry on the stand.
She also advised the prosecutor that the incident was on video, which neither Thomas Duggan nor the prosecution were aware of.
The prosecution agreed to drop the “case” this week.
This incident worked out this time, but if this had occurred after July 1, Sam could have very easily gotten his firearms taken away due to the Red Flag law.
Thomas stated in the sworn affidavit that Sam “was wearing a gun, moved up close to my face, I asked if he was going to hit me, he stated if he did what would I do, I stated I would not fight him.” He also stated that “I pointed at the gun on his belt and stated that must give him a sense that he could hit me,” which the video disproves.
The sworn affidavit is written to portray Sam as the armed, out of control aggressor. Tom also deliberately omitted his cursing, his comments about the size of Sam’s penis, and the aggressive nature in which Thomas behaved himself throughout the incident. Thomas tried to paint Sam in a violent light. That would allow him, as a “mental health professional,” to testify as the “victim” of the “assault” as well as an expert that Sam shouldn’t have access to firearms. Couple that with the slanderous rumors, and a red flag flag complaint was all but inevitable.
Did Tom Duggan’s obvious dishonesty rise the level of felony perjury?
We may soon find out the official opinion on that, as the Commonwealth Attorney’s office has been provided a copy of the video.
Additionally, Sam will be filing a civil suit against Tom and Julie Duggan for slander, defamation of character, intentional infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution, and libel.
He is also weighing a civil suit against his HOA, and several other neighbors. (The private investigator found evidence that several of Duggan’s neighborhood buddies may have conspired in this scheme. We will run a post on them once details are made available.)
If something like this happens after July 1, an anti-gun liberal like Thomas can file any complaint against a 2A supporter like Sam, and Sam won’t even have the chance to face his accuser before police show up to take his firearms under the Red Flag law.
Sam was lucky. He had both a good attorney and a video that disproved the “mental health professional’s” false affidavit.
Now, Sam is someone that many of you would recognize, if we got a little more specific. He runs a Pro 2A Facebook page that has a very large reach. We have even posted some of his content. He is also well known for his extensive efforts to help wounded veterans, medically retired/disabled law enforcement, and victims of violent crime. He has been very active in helping survivors of the Parkland school shooting in Florida.
And Virginia may thank him by taking his firearms if Thomas tries something like this again after July 1.
This is what happens when “mental health professionals” have a bias.
This is what happens when you have authoritarian liberal neighbors who hate guns, and will say or do anything to take yours.
This is why so many are against this type of law.
