Woman whose husband was killed in gun-free zone fights red-flag laws

[Charlie T Waite]

A stalker shot and killed her husband in a so-called gun-free zone. Now Nikki Goeser is worried that another gun control measure widely gaining popularity will result in other firearms owners being victimized.

Ms. Goeser recently headed to Congress to speak out against red-flag laws, arguing that allowing a judge to issue orders to temporarily confiscate firearms over mental health concerns could have jeopardized her safety at a time when she was most vulnerable.

“I’m trying to educate people about the dangers of red-flag laws,” Ms. Goeser told The Washington Times. “A lot of people seem to be for them, but there’s a lot that the everyday citizen doesn’t think about. I think red-flag laws completely ignore due process and violate due process rights.”

After her husband, Ben Goeser, was murdered 10 years ago in a Tennessee restaurant, Ms. Goeser fell into a depression, wondering how she would face another day, and “you can understand how someone might misinterpret that.”

“I wasn’t suicidal. I was just going through a really hard time,” she said. “But someone very well-meaning — a family member, a friend, a co-worker — could say, ‘We’re really concerned about Nikki. This horrible thing has happened, we know she’s a gun owner,’ and then take their concerns to a judge.”

If a judge had ordered police to take away her firearm, deeming her a risk to herself or others, “for someone like me, that would have been trauma on top of trauma.”

“Here I’m scared to death, I’m already concerned for my safety, and then to go and take my basic human right of self-defense away from me with no due process?” she said. “It’s pretty scary.”

[Colonel Kraken]

Ms. Goeser is very brave for coming forward and talking about her difficulties and the dangers of red flag laws.