Ignorance of Red Flag Laws Hampers Gun Enforcement, Experts Say
Law enforcement officials, public health researchers and legislators say public education on the grounds for preventing unstable persons from owning guns, as well as increased law enforcement training, is the key to saving lives.
Landwebs
Despite red flag laws becoming an increasingly popular tool to prevent mass shootings, suicides and deadly domestic violence, law enforcement officials, public health researchers and legislators say the public and even some police officers have so little knowledge of the tool that it isn’t used as often as it should be, reports Pew Stateline. Most states allow only law enforcement and family or household members to petition the courts to temporarily seize or prevent the purchase of firearms, while some states also offer the option to medical professionals, school officials, coworkers and current or former partners.
Also known as extreme risk protection orders, petitions must meet specific legal standards, and petitioners must present evidence, which a judge considers in a hearing. However, education is a problem. In California, two-thirds of people polled in 2020 had never heard of the state’s red flag law, according to a survey by the University of California Firearm Violence Research Center. In Washington state, even though voters approved the red flag law by a ballot initiative, just a handful of residents filed petitions in its first two years. In its first year, Colorado’s red flag law produced fewer than 125 extreme risk protection orders. Experts say that the best way to increase the use of extreme risk protection orders is to train law enforcement officers, while states are also investing in increased public education on the laws. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have adopted them, sometimes with bipartisan support. Fourteen of those laws came after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida—a catalyzing event that led to a wave of gun restrictions nationwide
