BY Andrea Huff
Those words have stuck with me since I heard them uttered from my college journalism professor.
They guided my career as a journalist and they continue to do so as an entrepreneur in the health + wellness industry with what I share and encourage others to share as they work toward health goals through fitness + personal development. They also give me pause when considering Red Flag legislation being pushed by some so-called women’s rights advocates. Because if they get their way, women’s stories will be silenced.
Ironic, considering some pretend to care about those stories.
I’ve always been a proponent of sharing stories because of this wisdom my professor imparted on us and yet, I can’t help but now make the connection between opening yourself up with brave vulnerability and as a result, making yourself and your rights a target. Sharing stories is what creates, fosters and nurtures community, trust, healing and empowerment. It’s what let’s others know they aren’t alone in their triumphs or struggles. It’s what helps others through. By sharing your own story, you shine a light for others to not only have hope, but find their own way.
But now, with legislation being pushed to grant an individual the power to make a claim against another based on whatever they perceive as a “risk,” I’m actually starting to hope people think twice before sharing their story. And that’s something that really makes me cringe.
These red flag laws go far beyond destroying what’s guaranteed to us in the Constitution. That destruction alone SHOULD be enough for anyone to be outraged. But since it’s not, and since there are plenty of people out there who are being played like pawns by our lawmakers and so-called advocates, I’ll go ahead and point out what isn’t so obvious.
These laws attack, suppress and silence women. They do that to everybody, actually, but if you’ve got a few minutes, go back and read the post I made March 8 about why I am especially disappointed by those supporting these bills. They all claim to also support women. What a joke.
Ladies, these lawmakers who say they want you to feel safe getting help for whatever situation you’re in? They’re also drafting and supporting legislation to have your own story be used against you.
The struggle you’re having since leaving the abusive relationship you were in? Don’t talk about it.
The job and income you lost and the worry you have about supporting your family? Keep quiet about it.
The sadness you’re feeling after the death of a loved one? Better not mention that, either.
Anyone in any of those scenarios could be considered to be a risk to themselves.
Take the abusive relationship example. I’ll use this since many who support these atrocious red flag laws, (support for which is also being funded by a billionaire’s out of state money, by the way) also supported a (different) billionaire coming here for the purchase, sale and destruction of our constitution with another law that would create more victims in the state and played on the emotions of those affected by domestic violence.
A woman gets a restraining order. She misses a day of work to get this piece of paper because the judge doesn’t have time to deal with it or sign it until his cases are done for the day and the court clerk tells her it’ll be hours, but if she leaves and comes back it would just show that she isn’t “seriously” concerned about her safety enough to need a restraining order and that if she were she would stay right at the courthouse.
She stays. She gets the RO. It’s temporary, of course, granted for a specific length of time. She and the defendant are to appear before a judge at a later date to have it become permanent. Another day of work missed, but worth her safety and peace of mind, right?
That date arrives. She attends. He blows it off. The judge signs a new RO into place, effective for a years time. As such, the temporary RO is expired/invalid, of course. Fair enough. She leaves with a copy of the new RO in hand.
Did you know that until the police track down the person who blew off this hearing, there is legally NOTHING in place to violate? The RO is effectively non-existent until it is hand delivered to the person who skipped out of the hearing and will remain non-existent for as long as they keep away from law enforcement. Legally, they do not know it is in effect during this time and therefore it would not be fair to arrest them for violating something they do not know is in effect. That means they can carry out every type of contact the restraining order states they are prohibited from without any charges able to be pressed against them until that piece of paper is in their hands. Which also means they cannot be arrested jailed and kept away from the person who feared their safety and took it out on them. Which also means her safety is 100% at risk until police find the person to hand them a piece of paper.
So for all the time she spent obtaining an RO and having it be put in place by a judge, it is worthless.
A piece of paper won’t stop a criminal anyway, we all know this. But it at least provides a basis for arrest IF the police are legally empowered to do so.
My point? There’s lots. The red flag laws put a person who has sought help for domestic violence at risk of having the 2A rights taken away. They are in a vulnerable state and can easily be seen as an emotional risk. A 7-day waiting period between purchase and delivery of a firearm will also put that person at risk. How? Let’s say the same day a judge signs a permanent RO into place, the individual it has been granted to purchases a firearm for her own personal safety. She understands she is her own best advocate and police have told her this. She wants to be prepared. She is her own first responder when there are mere seconds to protect your life and help is MINUTES away. Now let’s say the defendant who blew off the RO hearing evades police contact for days.
Meanwhile, the woman has to wait a mandatory 7 days to be able to defend her life with a firearm should that person threaten it. This is what democrats in our state have voted for. He will be violating NOTHING while harassing her and she is left defenseless by these ABSOLUTELY SENSELESS red flag laws and extreme risk protection orders. Think this can’t happen?
Here is me sharing MY story.
I had not attempted to purchase a firearm at the time. However, the story about the RO… the reason I know this can happen is because it happened to me. In one of our local communities. And when police found the man (whom I was under the silly impression had been repeatedly violating some very clear terms of my then newly-signed permanent RO against him), they could do nothing. Endless phone calls and trespassing onto my property, knocking on the door, yelling belligerently. Being found drunk and angry on a bench with a knife in his possession (which, last I checked is a deadly weapon), they could not touch him. Because he’d blown off our hearing and “was not aware” he was in violation of anything. Go figure.
Now, despite his being unable to legally purchase a firearm for life, I am under no impression that he can’t get his hands on one. He’s a trained killer and has connections that would give him easy, albeit illegal, access. I’m more than inclined to believe he does not care about the law.
Me, on the other hand, I’d like to stay on the right side of the law. Yet representatives and many so-called women’s advocates for some reason keep pushing legislation that would make it increasingly difficult to do. Why would they do this?
I’m sharing this part of MY story because (as of right now) it’s safe for me to do so, and who knows, perhaps it will help someone else. Perhaps it will wake some people up who think they’re supporting something “good” for NH residents and for women in particular. Wake up. You are being lied to. This legislation not only violates your rights, it will silence and make victims of you and your loved ones, and leave the burden- in every way possible- on YOU to literally save your own ass.
Think about this before blindly trusting the person smiling before you about “sensible” gun control and ask yourself why they are so hell bent on control instead of actually stopping violence and victimhood?
Women- EVERYONE- you deserve better than the bull***t you are being fed and you deserve better than people playing on your emotions and (quite literally) banking on your vulnerabilities. You deserve leadership and representatives and advocates who will HELP YOU HELP YOURSELVES, and who understand that making a woman a victim- in ANY capacity- is the OPPOSITE of empowerment.
You deserve laws that PROTECT your freedom to remain empowered and heard, not silenced and victimized”
Andrea Huff is a lifelong New Hampshire resident and former newspaper journalist. She’s a Certified Health Coach, NRA instructor, loving wife, and fur-mama. Andrea is the founder of Gunpowder And Sweat Fitness and believes gun rights “support the foundation of women’s rights.
