COLORADO, USA — During the first three years Colorado’s “red flag” law was in effect, judges approved more than two-thirds of the petitions seeking the removal of guns from people believed to be dangerous, according to a study released Monday.
But the approval rate was much lower in the 37 counties whose leaders declared them Second Amendment sanctuaries before the law took effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
In those counties, judges approved a little less than half of the petitions for what’s known officially as an “extreme risk protection order,” or ERPO.
The aim of the law was to give authorities the power to take guns from people who were believed to be dangerous but hadn’t committed a crime.
If a judge concluded the petition had merit, guns could be taken for 14 days – or for up to a year.
Chris Knoepke, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a leader of its Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative, co-authored the study. It examined 353 applications for court orders to remove guns from people.
“When you read the cases, these are exactly the kinds of cases for which ERPOs, or red flag laws, were invented,” Knoepke said. “These are threats of suicide. These are threats to romantic partners. These are threats directed at law enforcement or for mass shootings. And these are scary stories.”
The law was drafted after a mentally ill man with guns opened fire on a group of Douglas County sheriff’s deputies. Deputy Zack Parrish died in the 2017 shooting, and four others were wounded.
When it took effect, the law allowed law officers, family members or housemates to file an application for an ERPO.
Using a civil court standard of proof – that something was more likely than not – a judge could decide based on the evidence whether to grant the petition. If granted, the person’s guns would be taken for up to a year.
The study made public Monday broke down the percentage of ERPO applications that judges granted:
- Of the 353 red flag petitions filed between 2020 and the end of 2022, 238 were approved for either 14 days or a full year. That’s 67%.
- In counties that were declared as Second Amendment sanctuaries, judges approved 61 of 126 petitions – 48%.
- In all other counties, judges approved 177 of 227 petitions – 77%.
The study also found that law officers were far more likely to apply for a red flag order if they were working in a county that hadn’t been dubbed a Second Amendment sanctuary. In counties that had, less than a third of applications came from law officers; in all other counties, that number was close to two-thirds.
Knoepke said he believes the law strikes a good balance between gun rights and people who shouldn’t have access to weapons.
“It's one of these ideas that I think honors the viewpoints of the firearm advocacy community, while also trying to do what's best in situations where there's a crisis,” he said.
The legislature amended the law last year. It now allows medical and mental health professionals, district attorneys and educators to file red flag petitions. To date, it appears only a handful have been sought by people in those newly empowered groups.
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