Red flag law

  States with red flag laws

A red flag law is a gun violence prevention law that permits police or family members to petition a state court to order the temporary removal of firearms from a person who may present a danger to others or themselves. A judge makes the determination to issue the order based on statements and actions made by the gun owner in question.[1] After a set time, the guns are returned to the person from whom they were seized unless another court hearing extends the period of confiscation.[2][3]

Such orders are known as "Extreme Risk Protection Orders" (ERPO) in Oregon, Washington, Maryland, and Vermont; as "Risk Protection Orders" in Florida; as "Gun Violence Restraining Orders" in California; as "risk warrants" in Connecticut; and as "Proceedings for the Seizure and Retention of a Firearm" in Indiana.[4]

History and adoption

In 1999, Connecticut was the first to enact an red flag law,[5] following a rampage shooting at the Connecticut Lottery.[6] It was followed by Indiana (2005), California (2014), Washington (2016), and Oregon (2017).[5] California was the first state to pass a red flag law law allowing family members to petition courts to take weapons from persons deemed a threat, after Elliot Rodger committed a mass shooting in Isla Vista, California; the California law also permits law enforcement officials to petition for an order for the removal of guns from an individual for up to twelve months.[6] 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.[6]

Before 2018, five states had some version of red flag laws.[7] After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, that number more than doubled, as more states enacted such laws:[8][9] Florida,[10] Vermont,[11] Maryland,[12] Rhode Island,[13] New Jersey,[14] Delaware,[15] Massachusetts,[16] and Illinois.[17] Other state legislatures considered similar legislation.[18][3][19][20]

Effects

A 2016 study published in the journal Law and Contemporary Problems analyzed data from the 762 gun removals under Connecticut's "risk warrant" law from October 1999 through June 2013 and determined that there was "one averted suicide for every ten to eleven gun seizure cases."[21] The researchers concluded that "enacting and implementing laws like Connecticut’s civil risk warrant statute in other states could significantly mitigate the risk posed by that small proportion of legal gun owners who, at times, may pose a significant danger to themselves or others."[21]

A 2018 study published in the journal Psychiatric Services utilized CDC data from all suicides in all 50 states from 1981-2015 to "examine the effects of Connecticut and Indiana's risk-based firearm seizure law on state-level firearm suicide rates."[22] The researchers concluded that "Indiana’s firearm seizure law was associated with a 7.5% reduction in firearm suicides in the ten years following its enactment, an effect specific to suicides with firearms and larger than that seen in any comparison state by chance alone. Enactment of Connecticut’s law was associated with a 1.6% reduction in firearm suicides immediately after its passage and a 13.7% reduction in firearm suicides in the post–Virginia Tech period, when enforcement of the law substantially increased."

Support and opposition

An April 2018 poll found that 85% of registered voters support laws that would "allow the police to take guns away from people who have been found by a judge to be a danger to themselves or others" (71% "strongly supported" while 14% "somewhat supported" such laws).[23][24] State-level polling in Colorado and Michigan has shown similar levels of support.[25][26]

Democrats and some Republicans are receptive to this law.[1] Such laws are supported by groups that support gun control, such as Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and Everytown for Gun Safety. The latter group conducted a nationwide study showing that the perpetrators of mass shootings showed warning signs before the event 42% of the time.[9]

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,[18] and worked to defeat such legislation in Utah and Maryland.[27] In a March 2018 policy reversal, the NRA suggested that it might support such laws, but conditioned any openness to such laws on an extensive list of conditions,[19][27] including a judicial finding by "clear and convincing evidence" that the person poses a significant risk of danger.[27] The NRA did not identify any federal or state red flag laws that it supported.[27]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Barbaro, Michael, host. "Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018." The Daily, New York Times. 27 Feb. 2018. New York Times.
  2. ↑ O'Sullivan, Joseph (November 14, 2016). "Family tragedy behind Initiative 1491, to get guns from those deemed at extreme risk". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Johnson, Kirk (February 23, 2018). "States Mull 'Red Flag' Gun Seizures from People Deemed Dangerous". The New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  4. ↑ Data behind Extreme Risk Protective Order Policies: A Look at Connecticut's Risk-Warrant Law, Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (May 2018).
  5. 1 2 Jason Hanna and Laura Ly, After the Parkland massacre, more states consider 'red flag' gun bills, CNN (March 7, 2018).
  6. 1 2 3 Foley, Ryan J.; Thompson, Don (February 19, 2018). "Few states let courts take guns from people deemed a threat". Associated Press. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  7. ↑ Bernstein, Lenny (February 16, 2018). "Five states allow guns to be seized before someone can commit violence". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  8. ↑ Nick Wing & Melissa Jeltsen, Wave of 'Red Flag; Gun Laws Shows Power of the Parkland Effect, Huffington Post (June 16, 2018).
  9. 1 2 Michael Livingston, More States Approving 'Red Flag' Laws to Keep Guns Away from People Perceived as Threats, Los Angeles Times (May 14, 2018).
  10. ↑ Scherer, Michael (March 7, 2018). "Florida Legislature Backs New Gun Restrictions After Parkland School Shooting". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  11. ↑ McCullum, April (April 10, 2018). "Gov. Scott Signs Vermont Gun Bills: When New Steps Take Effect". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  12. ↑ Bernfeld, Jeremy (April 24, 2018). "Ban on 'Bump Stocks' Among New Gun Regulations in Maryland". WAMU. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  13. ↑ McGuinness, Dylan (June 1, 2018). "Raimondo Signs 'Red Flag' Bill, Bump Stock Ban Into Law". WPRI-TV. Associated Press. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  14. ↑ Wing, Nick (June 13, 2018). "New Jersey's Tough Gun Laws Just Got Even Stronger". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  15. ↑ Goss, Scott (April 24, 2018). "'Red Flag' Gun Bill Passes, Heads to Delaware Governor's Desk". The News Journal. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  16. ↑ Miller, Joshua (July 3, 2018). "People Deemed to Be a Danger Can Lose Gun Rights Under New Law". Boston Globe. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  17. ↑ McCoppin, Robert; Garcia, Monique (July 16, 2018). "Guns Can Be Removed from Those Deemed Dangerous under Law Signed by Rauner; He Also Extends 'Cooling Off' Period to Assault-Style Weapons". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  18. 1 2 Fies, Andy (February 16, 2018). "How a temporary restraining order for guns could help stop mass shootings". ABC News.
  19. 1 2 Sean Campbell & Alex Yablon, Red Flag Laws: Where the Bills Stand in Each State, The Trace (March 29, 2018).
  20. ↑ Wing, Nick. "Massachusetts Joins Wave Of States Passing 'Red Flag' Gun Laws After Parkland". Huffington Post.
  21. 1 2 Swanson, J. W., Norko, M., Lin, H-J., Alanis-Hirsch, K., Frisman, L., Baranoski, M., Easter, M., Robertson, A. G., Swartz, M., Bonnie, R. J., Implementation and Effectiveness of Connecticut's Risk-Based Gun Removal Law: Does It Prevent Suicides?, 80 Law and Contemporary Problems, pp. 179-208 (August 2016).
  22. ↑ Kivisto, Aaron J.; Phalen, Peter Lee (2018). "Effects of Risk-Based Firearm Seizure Laws in Connecticut and Indiana on Suicide Rates, 1981-2015". Psychiatric Services (Washington, D.C.). 69 (8): 855–862. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201700250. ISSN 1557-9700. PMID 29852823.
  23. ↑ Washington Post-ABC News Poll, April 8-11, 2018.
  24. ↑ Emily Guskin & Scott Clement, Has Parkland changed Americans' views on guns?, Washington Post (April 20, 2018).
  25. ↑ Patrick Center, Poll reveals Michigan voters in favor of "Red Flag" law, WGVY (March 8, 2018).
  26. ↑ NEW POLL: Colorado voters overwhelmingly favor a Red Flag Law, Keating Research (May 3, 2018).
  27. 1 2 3 4 Nicole Gaudiano (March 19, 2018). "Under pressure, NRA voices support for gun violence restraining orders". USA Today.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.