Such petitions for extreme risk protection orders have been filed 51 times since the D.C. Council passed the law in December 2018, 13 of which came from police, according to a review of D.C. Superior Court records and data from the D.C. Attorney General’s Office. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) said that low figure suggests that many District residents may not be aware of the law — or that police aren’t invoking it as often as they could.
But that’s something he hopes could soon change. This week, the D.C. Attorney General’s office is rolling out a public awareness campaign in hopes of making more people aware the law exists. And with legal gun ownership increasing in the District in the wake of federal court decisions that forced the city to loosen its restrictive firearms laws, a D.C. police official said he believes officers will more frequently turn to the city’s red-flag law.
“If we believe as I do that gun violence is at a crisis point, there should be no tool left in the toolbox,” Allen said. “Every tool should be pulled out, should be used, to get guns out of the hands of people that are going to do harm to themselves or others.” …
But the law only works if people know to use it, said Christian Heyne, vice president of policy and programs at Brady, a gun violence prevention organization. “One of the biggest barriers we have to emergency risk laws is folks are largely unaware,” he said. …
Allen said he hopes to see the law used more liberally by police and others, including in illegal gun cases. But that depends in part on people knowing they can seek a petition against a loved one without worrying they’ll end up jailed for unlawful possession, he said.
As part of the public awareness campaign, the attorney general’s fliers include that reminder. Fact-sheets will be distributed at relevant locations such as emergency rooms and shelters, and the attorney general’s office is asking council members and advisory neighborhood commissioners to help get the word out as well.
— Meagan Flynn in D.C.’s ‘Red Flag’ Gun Seizures Are Low. Officials Hope to Change That
What’s the “emergency risk” for gang bangers?, oh, that’s right there is none.
Beat me to it.
Criminals are the equivalent for Liberal/progressive democrat, that the Brown Shirts were for the Nazi’s.
Criminals are exempted because they are a “protected class”.
The swamp tries to get deeper and trap more citizens in its depths forever. As long as DemonRats infest the swamp, this will continue. The district that is supposed to be the center of American freedom and justice provides neither to it’s residents.
“Every tool should be pulled out, should be used, to get guns out of the hands of people that are going to do harm to themselves or others.”
Pro tip: go after the known criminals that are the greatest contributors to the death toll.
But that would be difficult — when it’s easier for the authorities to have friends and family rat out those who might have a problem and then criminalize them by denying them their Constitutional rights.
Even a man with no brain can figure that out.
The chief missed the class on crime is what the police are paid to prosecute.
The crisis point is unprosecuted crime that drives more gun ownership.
The inly reason for extreme risk protection order or redflag laws to even exist is to serve as a symbol of the failure of government.
ANY person that actually needs to have their guns takin from them is a person that should never have been green lighted through NICS. These are individuals that should have been rejected to start with. But no one seems to actually care to FIX NICS. This article is proof that it is broken and was never fixed.
Can I phone in a red flag for yoots aged 12-25 living in a certain geographic area who hang with known perpetrators at sketchy hours of the day in sketchy places?
If they want to reduce the raw numbers of criminal acts they know damn well how to. What they want is a perpetual campaign of harassment, intimidation and fear turning neighbor against neighbor by encouraging Karens to wield the state as a weapon against anyone they decide not to like at a given moment.
That’s right take the gun away and everyone around the “Red Flagged” will be safe happy campers…Never mind the Red Flagged turning to bricks, bats, knives, fists, feet, vehicles, etc.
Gun Control zealots calling for Red Flag laws confirms there are individuals prone to bloody violence running around out there. That’s reason enough for defenseless citizens to put down what they are doing and beeline to a Gun Store.
Remember afaik the district of corruption is sorta like Mexico in that there is only ONE gun store. Sorta hard to make a beeline.
i’ll see your red flag and raise you a yellow one with a snake on it.
“…and raise you a yellow one with a snake on it.”
Poisonous snakes and the Leftist-Fascist scum have a whole lot in common, nothing good… 🙁
Funny in nearby, albeit mostly rural, dark red, Constitutional Carry West Virginia almost everybody has guns and yet we have very few problems.
Due process? I’m not seeing it here. Some azzhole decides that I might be dangerous, so he gets an order to confiscate my weapons. The night after my weapons are confiscated, his four buddies break into my home, and rob me at gun point. Yeah, that’s due process alright!
I swore I read an article (out of California, no less) of an ex-boyfriend red flagging his ex-girlfriend. After the authorities did their due diligence in disarming her for her own good, he summarily killed her. And there again, politicians are so damned determined to disarm everyone, I do not see a lack of a red flag law stopping any of them.
“After the authorities did their due diligence in disarming her for her own good, he summarily killed her.”
They consider that to be the necessary cost of doing business, and will happily allow that… 🙁
Collateral damage on the road to ut0pia.
So, the person is dangerous enough to take their guns from without due process but not dangerous enough to arrest for having the gun illegally? What? I’m waiting for a red flag order where they take the guns and the person just uses arson or a car instead.
This whole “too unsafe to own guns but safe enough to leave in society” thing is absurd.
My question has always been: “If someone serves their time for a crime is considered to be *too dangerous* afterward to own a gun, then why is he out of prison in the first place?”
The entire “prohibited persons” category is way, way too broad nowadays. IMHO, there should be only a very few truly dangerous individuals (e.g., repeat violent offenders of high capital crimes) who may qualify in my book for such a restriction. Today – and I mean this very seriously, at least as the law stands in CA – you can drink a little too much at dinner, pat a passing waitress’ behind, be charge with sexual assault, be registered as an S.O., and lose your ability to legally own a gun for the rest of your life across the nation. Clown world.
“The entire “prohibited persons” category is way, way too broad nowadays.”
You bet your sweet ass.
I’ve been saying here about a decade now that if we ever won big on gun rights, they will do everything possible to expand the category of prohibited persons.
Get caught speeding or drunk, you’re not responsible enough to lawfully possess guns.
Fortunately for us, the upcoming ‘Ramani’ (sp?) SCotUS case may clarify things in our favor…
EDIT – Cool new video of Mark Serbu at the ‘US Ordnance’ machine gun factory in Nevada :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0uXM2kh8xo
But, that’s kinda the whole point. They can disarm people who legally own guns, but not so much people who own guns illegally. There’s no record of Joe the Robber possessing any weapons. They can’t confiscate what they don’t know that he has. It’s only you and me, taxpaying, voting, hard working honest citizens whose guns will be taken away.
There must be millions of us for whom an AR represents a non-negligible investment. Sure, there are people who can purchase three or six or nine cool new weapons every month, but many of us have to save up for awhile to buy a $1000 weapon. Personally, a $1000 weapon represents about two months of “disposable income”.
So they take your investment, THEN you get a day in court, at which the judge gets to decide whether you will get your investment back or not. You may NOT get it back! And, you’re out whatever you’ve invested, PLUS, you lack the means of self defense if/when you need it, PLUS, you’ve lost time and money on the “justice” system.
It’s a no-win proposition for legal gun owners, and a no-lose proposition for criminals.
Oh yeah – your name is now in the system. Next time you attempt to purchase a gun, your name will come up, and whoever makes decisions is likely to deny your right, based on that alone.
Buy a lot of flags..
CAUGHT!! Red Flag Challenged After Goverment Official Lies To Obtain One! (just to note: over 90% of red flag law actions focused on firearms are based on lies.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JtA6VfXdwg
The best cheerleaders for expanded government control, get the most money.
Tell the “brown shirts” in the Democrat party that MANY will NOT comply . . . INCLUDING me. “Red Flag” laws DON’T work!
“without worrying they’ll end up jailed for unlawful possession”
Maybe not but they will end up dead if they give the impression they might resist like the man in Anne Arundel county Maryland and probably many others we haven’t heard about.
Ya want mine? Come and get it, I’m a waiting for ya!
Bill – just a ‘friendly’ reminder that in some ‘progressive’ states/jurisdictions your comment could be construed as ‘evidence’ for an erpo. NOT saying I disagree with your sentiment overall just a word to the wise. Remember they ARE monitoring us 😉
Red Flag Laws are unconstitutional unless accompanied by a valid search warrant. Supreme Court ruled a while back that law enforcement cannot enter your home without a warrant. Red Flags permit law enforcement to do that and then you to to court. So they basically steal your firearms and then you have to go to court to get them back. People are innocent until proven guilty and they should not be taking anything from your home until you are found guilty of committing a crime. I believe eventually if this were to get out of hand a great many law enforcement officers won’t be going home for dinner on those days.
You have to be an idiot to live in DC. The police, fire department, and EMTs cannot reliably find you when you call from home and give them the correct address. Anyway, this “red flag” stuff will stop after the first time the police are forced to kill a resisting felon.
Red Flags are ridiculous. Even if they have due process, taking away somebody’s guns doesn’t make them safe. If somebody really .is a danger to self and others, they need a civil commitment hearing or an arrest, if making or acting upon threats. Civil commitnent already exists and has full due process.
They don’t come to the homes of intentional offender drunk drivers and seize their property without warrant and haul them off against their will (without warrant) for involuntary commitment for mental health evaluation, they don’t come to the homes of intentional offender distracted-driving people and seize their property without warrant and haul them off against their will (without warrant) for involuntary commitment for mental health evaluation – basically, they don’t issue ‘red flag’ ERO’s against them yet each of these categories of intentional offense people display an obvious callous and dangerous mental health illness (sociopaths) threat to them selves and others and both of these categories of people (collectively) purposely do it and (collectively) injure or kill (including pedestrians) ~150 times more people annually than anyone with a gun in any ‘adverse’ use (including all categories of crime including mass shootings, including firearms accidents or negligent discharges, including police shootings or ordinary law abiding citizen uses for defense).
And if you call the police to report these intentional offender distracted-driving or drunk driver people ya get “gotta catch them in the act, thanks for calling, buh bye” – and when they do get caught in the act they are afforded due process and get court time and a lawyer and can plead their case and have a chance to defend themselves.
But any person can call the police or petition a court and make a ‘red flag’ ‘reporting’ on someone who owns a gun and simply claim something unsubstantiated even false – and the police go all knee jerk reaction, judges issue ERO’s, and the police go to the target-persons home and seize their property without warrant and haul them off (take them into custody without warrant) against their will for involuntary commitment for mental health evaluation and deny them due process.
correction: “(including all categories of crime including mass shootings, including firearms accidents or negligent discharges, including police shootings or ordinary law abiding citizen uses for defense)”
should have been…
(including all categories of crime including mass shootings, including firearms accidents or negligent discharges, including firearm suicides or suicide attempts, including police shootings or ordinary law abiding citizen uses for defense)
Questions. If one is reported under this red flag bs is there an investigation? Is there a judge who signs of on the complaint, or does the police just come and kick in one’s door and search your home, business, and any other property they own? So the find the complaint is found to be false do you get your weapons returned? Wouldn’t the person who filed the false complaint be arrested for perjury. In turn all be guilty of violating their constitutional rights?
Rick, I personally believe that the one doing the Red Flagging of someone should NOT be anonymous. Their names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers should be available without question to the person they are red flagging. The one being red flagged should have every available tax payer paid resource to defend themselves because their rights are clearly being violated on the whim of the person doing the Red Flagging. If there was no “just cause”, and they are found innocent, their firearms should be returned without question. And hell, if there was real justice, they should also be able to keep the guns of the officers who were “just doing their job”. The person who did the Red Flagging (ex-girlfriends, employer) should go to jail, and be forced to pay monetary compensation for putting that person through such sh** that was nothing more than an unconstitutional gun grab. Now I know, go ahead and laugh, because we all know this will never happen.
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