Two states launch snitch lines to rat on gun owners
Michigan and Hawaii are launching hotlines for people to report gun owners for breaking the law.
Last week, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law HB 5503, an education bill that allocates $1 million toward establishing a tip line for reporting guns that are not properly stored. The funds will also go toward educating taxpayers on how to report improperly stored firearms. Guns are considered improperly stored if they are not “unloaded and locked with a locking device or stored in a locked box or container if it is reasonably known that a minor is likely to be present on the premises.”
‘Out of the Stasi playbook’
According to the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), the bill was rushed through and opposition was silenced.
“HB 5503 is an omnibus education funding bill that was amended to include the ‘tipline’ language and swiftly passed through the legislature within hours,” the organization said. “The expedited pace and the silencing of opposition when the bill came up for a floor vote underscores the reality that this was a political move and another attack on gun owners.”
Republican State Rep. Angele Rigas slammed the law as resembling communist police tactics.
“This hotline is nothing more than a page out of the Stasi playbook – encouraging children to spy on their own families,” she said, adding: “This is a dangerous step toward weaponizing children in households for the left, and an outrageous government overreach under the guise of public safety.”
Hawaii encourages tipsters to name ‘illegal gun owners’
The Daily Caller News Foundation notes that Hawaii also launched a snitch line. On Wednesday, Governor Josh Green announced in a press release that Hawaii’s Department of Law Enforcement has established a Gun Tip Line “for people to make anonymous reports of illegal gun ownership and gun crimes.” The press release also encouraged tipsters to provide the names of people suspected of illegally owning guns, as well as their location.
