Red flag law

A judge makes the determination to issue the order based on statements and actions made by the gun owner in question.

[13] It was followed by Indiana, which adopted its legislation in 2005; called Jake Laird's Law, it was named after an Indianapolis police officer was fatally shot by a mentally disturbed man.

These findings point to the value of relevant data, likely in combination with the lived experience and advocacy efforts of those most impacted, for building policy momentum through the media.

"[28] In 2019, New York enacted a red-flag law as part of a broader package of gun-control legislation that overwhelmingly passed the state legislature.

[37][38][39] In 2020, New Mexico became the 18th state to adopt a red-flag law, after Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation on February 25, 2020.

[42] After the Virginia Beach shooting later that year, Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, called the Republican-controlled General Assembly into special session to consider gun-control legislation.

[54] El Paso County was the location of a 2022 Colorado Springs shooting massacre in which a gunman killed five people and wounded many more.

Despite a history of alarming behavior (such as bomb threats) that would have made him a candidate for a gun removal order under Colorado's law, the arrested man was never subject to a petition for an order and was thus legally permitted to obtain the guns used in the attack, raising new scrutiny of the sheriff's refusal to use the Colorado law.

[58][6][59][60] In the recent past, red-flag bills were being considered but did not pass in the following states: On June 25, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that included several changes to U.S. gun laws, one of which authorizes governments of individual states to receive grants from the federal government if they enact and enforce red flag laws.

[82] The California Legislature passed a measure in 2016 to allow high school and college employees, co-workers and mental health professionals to file such petitions, but this legislation was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown.

"[88] A preliminary case series published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2019 analyzed the use of ERPOs in California, and found that the cases studied suggest that California's red-flag law, as a form of "urgent, individualized intervention ... can play a role in efforts to prevent mass shootings.

"[85] A 2023 review by the RAND Corporation concluded there was inconclusive evidence of the effect of red flag laws on firearm suicides.

[91] One factor in different use rates is whether a state has courts that allow petitioners to seek an order after business hours and on weekends.

[106] After a gun massacre at a Buffalo supermarket in May 2022, in which ten people were killed, New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued an executive order requiring state police to file a petition when they believe, based on set criteria, that an individual presents a threat to themselves or others.

"[110][111] On May 28, 2024 Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed legislation preempting local municipalities from enforcing extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs).

[115] Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, introduced a bill, the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act (S. 506), which would allow states to use grants to develop red flag laws.

[122] In June 2022, the House passed the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2021[123] on a 224–202 vote, mostly along party lines.

[126][b] The legislation was sponsored by Representative Lucy McBath, and passed the House in the aftermath of shooting massacres in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas.

[124] The House-passed bill, as well as a package of other gun-control bills passed by the House (including a safe storage law, an increase in the minimum age to buy semi-automatic rifles to 21, a large-capacity magazine ban, and universal background checks), were blocked in the divided Senate, which is evenly split between the parties.

[140] In United States v. Rahimi (2024) the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a longstanding federal ban on firearms for people under domestic violence restraining orders, which are required to be reported to the national background check system.

[144][145] A PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist Poll released in September 2019 showed that 72% of Americans supported the enactment of a federal red-flag law, while 23% were opposed.

For example, in Virginia, state senator Glen Sturtevant argued that the legislature should consider requiring an adversarial hearing on the order within 48 hours, rather than within 14 days.

[152] Jacob Sullum, a columnist for Reason magazine, questioned "the very concept of 'red flags'" and whether "experts can reliably distinguish between harmless oddballs and future murderers," and, citing a 2012 Department of Defense study,[153] stated that "even if certain 'red flags' are common among mass shooters, almost none of the people who display those signs are bent on murderous violence.

"[154] The National Rifle Association (NRA) had previously argued that red flag laws unnecessarily hamper the right to due process of individuals who are restrained by them,[58] and worked to defeat such legislation in Utah and Maryland.

[156] In summer 2018, the NRA mobilized to defeat red-flag legislation proposed in Pennsylvania because it objected to allowing initial hearings ex parte.

[156] In Arizona in 2019, the NRA ghostwrote an opinion piece for sheriffs to submit to the local press stating their opposition to the legislation.

[157] A 2019 study by gun rights advocate John Lott found red flag laws have no significant effect on murder, suicide, the number of people killed in mass public shootings, robbery, aggravated assault, or burglary.

[158] The ACLU of Rhode Island argued against such a law, stating that "People who are not alleged to have committed a crime should not be subject to severe deprivations of liberty interests...in the absence of a clear, compelling and immediate showing of need.

[157][160][161] As of 2019[update], some 75 jurisdictions have declared themselves sanctuaries that oppose emergency protection orders and enforcement of gun background checks, at times with assistance from the NRA.

[164][162] In November 2019, Trump abandoned the idea of putting forth red-flag law proposals or other legislation to curtail gun violence.