Red flag laws, also called gun violence restraining orders or extreme risk protection orders, allow loved ones or law enforcement to petition a court for an order to temporarily prevent someone in crisis from accessing guns. These policies currently only exist on the state level and 19 states and the District of Columbia have red flag laws.
These laws are a tool for law enforcement when someone is clearly at risk of causing harm with a firearm but can’t be arrested because a crime hasn’t been committed yet. Anyone who knows someone who poses such a risk to themselves or others can petition a judge to have their firearms temporarily taken away. Law enforcement officials invoke red flag laws the vast majority of the time. These laws come with a strong burden of proof.
Studies have found that red flag laws are effective, especially for preventing shootings that are often planned out in advance such as mass shootings and suicides. But these laws are often underused. In some states with red flag laws, law enforcement hasn’t been trained on how to use them and general public awareness of them tends to be low.