> Red flag laws have been associated with huge reductions in gun-related suicides.
The constitutionality of a law does not hinge on it's effectiveness.
I haven't formed an opinion as to whether red flag laws are constitutional or whether they are or are not similar to watch lists, but that's a terrible reason to suggest they are dissimilar.
In order for the government to restrict a right under the Constitution they must have a compelling government interest, and they must write the law in a way that is narrowily tailored in a way that accomplishes the government goal in the least restrictive way over that person Constitutional right.
That's very different from saying "to restrict a right it must be effective". Many effective laws have been struck down as not narrowly tailored. And very often narrow tailoring will hamper the effectiveness.
> That's very different from saying "to restrict a right it must be effective".
No, it says exactly that.
It is very different than saying “If a law restricting a right is effective, it is Constitutional”, which is not the same as “to restrict a right, it must be effective” (one states a sufficient condition, the other a necessary one.) Nevertheless,being effective is a relevant differentiator between one proposed restriction and another that explains why they might be seen differently Constitutionally, as while a law which is effective at serving some government interest may be unconstitutional, one which is not is almost by definition is not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest.
If I read it right, red flag laws go through a judge who signs off on individual cases. This is different from the others where the judicial branch is out of the loop.
Sure, there's a solid argument that red flag laws have a 1) a lot more due process than no fly lists and 2) enough due process to make them constitutional. As I said, I don't know the details of the different red flag laws, and haven't formed an opinion on that.
But the comment I was replying to made a very different and I think highly indefensible argument: That the difference between red flag laws and no fly lists was the former was more effective.
It's pretty clearly the case that a process where the individual is not involved up front but retains the ability to challenge an unfavorable outcome can, for some things, be the process that is Constitutionally due. It's less clear exactly what the boundaries are for that, because the Constitution doesn't really explicit provide rules for determining what process is due for any particular action, leaving it in practice for courts to evolve standards.
The constitutionality of a law does not hinge on it's effectiveness.
I haven't formed an opinion as to whether red flag laws are constitutional or whether they are or are not similar to watch lists, but that's a terrible reason to suggest they are dissimilar.