Red flag law
In the United States, a red flag law, also known as a risk-based gun removal law, is a gun law that permits a state court to order the temporary seizure of firearms from a person who they believe may present a danger. A judge makes the determination to issue the order based on statements and actions made by the gun owner in question. Refusal to comply with the order is punishable as a criminal offense. 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.
As of May 2023, 21 states and the District of Columbia have enacted some form of red-flag law. The specifics of the laws, and the degree to which they are utilized, vary from state to state. Names vary by state, and include Extreme Risk Protection Orders ; Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Orders ; Emergency Substantial Risk Orders ; Firearm Restraining Orders ; Gun Violence Protective Orders ; Gun Violence Restraining Orders ; Lethal Violence Protective Orders, Risk Protection Orders ; Risk Warrants ; and Proceedings for the Seizure and Retention of a Firearm.
History and adoption
In 1999, Connecticut became the first state to enact a red flag law, after a rampage shooting at the Connecticut Lottery. It was followed by Indiana, which adopted its legislation in 2005; called Jake Laird's Law, it was named after an Indianapolis police officer was fatally shot by a mentally disturbed man. Subsequent red-flag laws were adopted by California, Washington, and Oregon. The California State Legislature was the first to enact a red flag law allowing family members to petition state courts to remove 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 the court for an order for the removal of guns from an individual for up to twelve months.Before 2018, only the above-mentioned five states had some version of red flag laws. After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, that number more than doubled, as more states enacted such laws: Florida, Vermont, Maryland, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Massachusetts, Illinois, and the District of Columbia. A content analysis study published in 2022 examined newspaper articles published in 2018 in three states that passed ERPOs after the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida and three states that did not. The study found that the passage of ERPOs was associated with media coverage that used official policy names/acronyms ; accurately portrayed gun violence as a preventable problem, and that referred to ERPO policies in other states. The survey found that "although only one in four articles cited scientific evidence related to gun violence generally, articles about passing states were significantly more likely to cite the small but growing body of research about ERPO implementation and effectiveness. These findings point to the value of relevant data, likely in combination with the lived experience and advocacy efforts of those most impacted, for building policy momentum through the media."
In 2019, New York enacted a red-flag law as part of a broader package of gun-control legislation that overwhelmingly passed the state legislature. In addition to allowing police and family members to petition for entry of an extreme risk protection order, the law also allows teachers and school administrations to file such petitions, making New York the first state to include such a provision. Three other states enacted red-flag laws in 2019: Colorado, Nevada and Hawaii. The Colorado, Nevada, and Hawaii laws all went into effect on January 1, 2020.
In 2020, New Mexico became the 18th state to adopt a red-flag law, after Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation on February 25, 2020. New Mexico's law went into effect on July 1, 2020.
In Virginia, the state's General Assembly, then controlled by Republicans, voted down red-flag legislation in its January 2019 session. After the Virginia Beach shooting later that year, Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, called the Republican-controlled General Assembly into special session to consider gun-control legislation. The legislature did not vote on any gun legislation. After the Democrats won control of both chambers of the General Assembly in the fall 2019 elections, for the first time in more than two decades, Northam vowed to reintroduce gun control proposals, including a red flag bill. The General Assembly subsequently passed an emergency substantial risk order law, on a party-line vote in the Senate and a nearly party-line vote in the House of Delegates. Northam signed the legislation into law in April 2020, alongside four separate gun measures. Fairfax County, Virginia and the Alexandria-based gun-violence prevention nonprofit group Safer Country have become leaders in awareness campaigns to inform the public and law enforcement about the use of Virginia's ESRO law.
Some local sheriffs in rural Colorado counties refused to use the state's risk-based gun violence prevention, with some declaring their counties "sanctuaries" from gun laws they opposed; many of the sheriffs reversed course after gun violence incidents in their communities. A 2022 analysis of court records by KHN found that, two and a half years after the passage of Colorado's risk-based gun violence prevention law, petitions for protection orders had been filed in 20 of the 37 counties with sheriffs who previously said that they would refuse to use or enforce such laws, and that such petitions were often filed "by the very sheriffs who had previously denounced the law." In El Paso County, Colorado, however, Sheriff Bill Elder followed a policy of barring the Sheriff's Office from filing petitions under Colorado's law based on Elder's belief that the laws are unconstitutional.. El Paso County was the location of a 2022 Colorado Springs shooting massacre in which a gunman killed five people and wounded many more. Despite a history of alarming behavior that would have made him a candidate for a gun removal order under Colorado's law, the arrested man was never subject to a petition for an order and was thus legally permitted to obtain the guns used in the attack, raising new scrutiny of the sheriff's refusal to use the Colorado law.
In May 2023, Minnesota and Michigan became the 20th and 21st states to enact red flag laws. Minnesota's law went into effect on July 1, 2023. Michigan's law went into effect in February 2024.
On November 4, 2025, Maine voted to pass a Red Flag Law.
Proposed or pending state legislation
Other state legislatures considered similar legislation. In the recent past, red-flag bills were being considered but did not pass in the following states:- Arizona: A red-flag bill previously died in the Arizona Legislature, but in 2019, Governor Doug Ducey renewed pressure on legislative Republicans to pass the law in the wake of the shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. In 2020, Gov. Ducey reversed his position and stated, “As long as I am governor, there will be no red flag law in the State of Arizona."
- North Carolina: Since 2018, red flag bills introduced by North Carolina Democratic legislators have been defeated or stalled in committee the Republican-controlled state House. North Carolina's governor, Democrat Josh Stein, supports the legislation. Democratic State Representative Marcia Morey has filed several such bills up to 2022 without hearings.
- Ohio: After the Dayton shooting, Ohio's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, announced that he wanted Ohio's Republican-controlled legislature to pass a red flag law. Two months later, however, DeWine retreated from this proposal. Republican State Senator Matt Dolan introduced Senate Bill 357 to the legislature in August 2022. The bill focuses on mental health and red-flag provisions.
- Tennessee: A red-flag bill had been introduced in the Tennessee Legislature, but in 2019 the Republican-controlled legislature declined to take up the bill, and Governor Bill Lee did not commit to support it. In 2020, Democratic State Senator Sara Kyle proposed Senate Bill 1807. Following the Covenant School shooting on March 27, 2023, after sustained public protest from parents, students, residents and legislators, Governor Lee asked the TN state legislature to work on a red flag law on April 11, 2023.
- New Hampshire: The Democratic-majority New Hampshire Legislature passed a red-flag bill, but it was vetoed by Republican Governor Chris Sununu.
- Nebraska: In 2019, Legislative Bill 58 was introduced which includes red-flag provisions.
- Kentucky: In 2022, House Resolution 74 was introduced which includes language opposing the adoption of a red-flag law, following previous attempts in 2019.
- Pennsylvania: Similar legislation was proposed, but did not pass.
Federal grant program
Provisions
A 2018 American Psychiatric Association resource document on risk-based gun removal laws notes that all such laws are "designed to address crisis situations in which there is an acute concern about an individual's access to firearms" but the specific provisions of such laws differ from state-to-state, varying on matters such as "who can initiate the gun removal process, whether a warrant is required, what factors the court must consider before ordering firearm removal, what must be proven in court, how long the firearms are restricted, and what process is used to restore the individual's firearm access."For example, in Indiana and New Mexico, only law enforcement may petition for an order. This aspect of the state law came under scrutiny following a mass shooting committed by a 19-year-old man who had previously been detained in a mental health hold and had a shotgun seized from him, only to go on to purchase the weapons used in the shooting following a failure by authorities to petition for an order. In contrast, in Oregon, any person living with the person of concern may file a petition. In New York, an order may be sought by a family member, a prosecutor or police official, a teacher, or a school administrator.
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. Similar legislation, however, was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019; the legislation, which went into effect January 1, 2020, expands the list of people who may request GVROs to include "an employer of the subject of the petition"; "a coworker of the subject of the petition, if they have had 'substantial and regular interactions with the subject for at least one year' and have obtained the approval of the employer"; and "an employee or teacher of a school that the subject has attended for the last six months, if the employee or teacher has obtained the approval of administrators."
In California, it is a misdemeanor offense for a person to file a GVRO petition "knowing the information in the petition to be false or with the intent to harass." Making false statements on petitions is also a criminal offense in other states; for example, in Colorado, a woman who lied on a petition was found guilty of "attempting to influence a public servant" and of perjury.