Red Flag Laws, Due Process, and the American Entrepreneurial Spirit

On May 30, 2024, Dagny Van Der Jagt, Daniel Turner, Mark Monson, and Mary Janssen joined the show. Former prosecutor exposes how Colorado ERPO law allows ex parte proceedings against gun owners without their knowledge, operating under civil rather than criminal standards Power of the Future founder exposes how expensive energy policy enriches hostile nations while devastating rural American communities dependent on oil and gas jobs Game designer.

Colorado Red Flag Law Threatens Due Process

Start listening at 32:46 – Hour 1

Dagny Van Der Jagt, candidate for District Attorney in Judicial District 23, sounds the alarm on Colorado’s Extreme Risk Protection Order law. Van Der Jagt, a former prosecutor in Arapahoe and Douglas counties who now runs her own law firm, details how the 2019 legislation allows ex parte proceedings where accused gun owners face hearings without their knowledge or presence.

The attorney traces the law’s origins to a bipartisan 2018 effort, noting that her primary opponent participated in drafting the original legislation. She explains that the ERPO process operates under civil standards, requiring only preponderance of evidence rather than criminal proof beyond reasonable doubt. Teachers, healthcare providers, and even pastors can now file petitions against gun owners, a 2023 expansion that Van Der Jagt argues discourages people from seeking mental health treatment.

Van Der Jagt advocates returning to Rudy Giuliani’s broken window policing philosophy, prosecuting small crimes to prevent offenders from graduating to larger ones. She emphasizes that elected district attorneys can work with local leaders to promulgate municipal ordinances when the Democrat-controlled legislature fails to support public safety.

“So this entire hearing and procedure is happening, as you say, while you’re at work or sitting at home, not knowing that there’s a court proceeding going on. The court makes a decision at that point with a very, under civil standards. So by preponderance of evidence, is it more likely than not that this person might commit a crime in the future.”

Dagny Van Der Jagt, Candidate for District Attorney, JD-23

The War on American Energy Workers

Start listening at 73:01 – Hour 2

Daniel Turner, founder and executive director of Power of the Future, connects expensive energy policy to global instability. Turner explains that making energy expensive has enriched bad actors like Iran and Russia, funding organizations like Hamas rather than schools for girls.

Turner describes how energy workers in rural America lack representation in power centers like Denver and Washington, D.C. He recounts how Colorado boomed from 2000 to 2010 as the fastest-growing state economically, driven by fracking and oil and gas development, only to see newcomers bring policies that attack the very industry that created their prosperity.

Power of the Future is actively seeking state directors for Colorado and Wyoming to push back against climate hysteria and advocate for energy workers at county boards and state capitols. Turner ridicules the billions spent on charging stations that produced only seven or eight actual stations, calling the green movement’s financial waste an example of stolen taxpayer money.

“And all of that is because we’ve made energy very, very expensive. And so, yes, I started Power of the Future for those jobs in rural America. But you’re raising an important point. When this government makes energy the enemy and they use their power to go after energy, all Americans are suffering. And quite frankly, all the world is suffering because in the process of making energy expensive, we’ve made some really bad actors extremely rich, Iran, Russia.”

Daniel Turner, Executive Director, Power of the Future

Board Game Renaissance and American Entrepreneurship

Start listening at 18:24 – Hour 1

Mark Monson brings the entrepreneurial spirit to the board game industry with Legend of the Eight Isles, currently funding through Kickstarter. Monson describes how COVID sparked a renaissance in tabletop gaming, turning it into one of the biggest entertainment industries.

The game accommodates three to six players aged 10 and up, offering flexibility for quick 15-minute sessions or extended two to three hour gameplay. Monson drew inspiration from his own beagle, who appears as a musketeer character and serves as the game’s mascot. Backers at the $200 level can enter a raffle to create their own character for the first edition, potentially owning a collector’s item.

“But certainly I think that’s kind of the American idea. You know, I think a lot of people throughout the history have not had an idea of what to do, but they have just kind of powered through and figured out what they needed to do. And, you know, that’s how we’ve become such a successful country. Absolutely. entrepreneurs all over the place.”

Mark Monson, Creator, Legend of the Eight Isles

Aerial Photography and Legislative Watchdog Work

Start listening at 64:34 – Hour 2

Mary Janssen of Janssen Photography discusses her husband Glenn’s aerial photography business, which serves real estate clients and documents oil fields from their single-engine plane. The couple stumbled into aviation when Glenn, as Janssen jokes, accidentally bought an aircraft.

Janssen also serves as a volunteer for the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, which took positions on 259 bills during the legislative session. She describes learning to read legislation and discovering how lawmakers use specific word choices to pick winners and losers, affecting TABOR refunds and blocking real tax cuts. The studio is extending Mother’s Day portrait specials through Father’s Day.

“It was. It was. But you know what? Like you said once that I just never felt I was qualified to do this job. But once you start reading them, it’s like you see what they’re doing. It’s like, oh, well, they’re just using this word. If you take that word out, you understand they’re really, you’re right, picking winners and losers, you know, to affect the outcome either of our TABOR refund or, you know, an actual real tax cut.”

Mary Janssen, Janssen Photography