A state lawmaker said it may be time to expand a Colorado measure that lets judges temporarily take guns from people who are believed to be dangerous but haven’t committed a crime.
State Rep. Judy Amabile, a Democrat who represents parts of Boulder, Gilpin, Clear Creek and Larimer counties, reached that conclusion after considering the case of a man accused of shooting three people in June in Aurora. That incident was notable because the same man had been charged in a remarkably similar crime in 2018 – but a judge dismissed the case last fall after the man was found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial.
After that, a Douglas County sheriff’s officer returned the man's guns to his wife in January – and he’s now charged with using one of them in the June 27 Aurora shootings.
“I don't think anybody wants people who are seriously mentally ill to have firearms,” Amabile said. “We've talked about that so many times in this body, and on both sides of the aisle everyone is in agreement that a person in that situation should not have access to a firearm.”
The so-called “red flag” law has been on the books since 2020. It allows police, family members, housemates, educators, and medical and mental health professionals to file a petition seeking what’s known as an extreme risk protection order.
If a judge approves such an order, it allows the confiscation of weapons for up to a year. The order can be renewed by a judge.
Amabile said one possible path would be to automatically require that a petition for a red flag order be filed in any gun crime in which charges are dismissed because the suspect isn’t mentally competent to stand trial.
“There's probably a connection that we could make between the competency law and the red flag law, using the system we already have, which also allows somebody to get their firearm back if they demonstrate that they can handle it,” Amabile said.
Amabile said details need to be worked out, but she believes in cases like the one that recently unfolded there would be support for requiring a red flag hearing.
“Nothing’s easy – that’s one thing I've learned in my four years here, and I can understand why there would be some resistance to it,” she said. “But do I absolutely think it's the right thing to do. And do I think we could actually get that through? Yes.”
Austin Benson faces multiple counts of attempted first-degree murder and other charges in the June 27 shootings in Aurora that wounded three people.
He is being held without bail and is next due in court Oct. 1.
He was also charged in an incident that unfolded on July 2, 2018, along Rampart Range Road in Douglas County. That day, authorities alleged that Benson shot and at threatened multiple people. It ended when a retired police officer, camping with his wife, grabbed his own gun and shot Benson multiple times, seriously wounding him.
Prosecutors charged him with three counts of attempted first-degree murder, attempted robbery, 14 counts of felony menacing, and criminal mischief.
For more than five years, the case languished in court as doctors, on six separate occasions, concluded that Benson was not mentally competent to go to trial.
That means they concluded he was not able to understand the proceedings against him or assist in his own defense.
Last Oct. 26, Douglas County District Judge Ryan Stewart ruled that there was not a substantial probability that Benson could be restored to competency within the reasonably foreseeable future.
At that point, under state law, he had no choice but to dismiss the case.
Documents obtained by 9NEWS Investigates show that on Dec. 14, 2023, Douglas County sheriff’s officials notified Benson that it would return belongings taken during the investigation. That included six weapons – an AK47 rifle and five handguns – as well as at least 99 rounds of ammunition and multiple magazines.
On Jan. 16, documents show that Benson signed a notarized statement assigning his wife power of attorney.
Later that same day, she signed for the guns and other belongings, and they were turned over to her, according to the documents obtained by 9NEWS Investigates.
Contact 9NEWS investigator Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303-871-1862.