The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions and Everytown for Gun Safety have released new guidance for states and localities detailing how to effectively implement extreme risk protection order (ERPO) laws.
Extreme risk laws—also known as red flag laws—provide a legal framework to temporarily remove and prevent the possession of firearms when there are warning signs that an individual poses a potential risk of harm to self or others. Early research
indicates that these laws are promising interventions in response to credible mass shooting threats and to prevent firearm suicide. Twenty-one states and Washington D.C. have enacted these laws.
With President Biden’s signing of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 following the horrific shootings last year in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas, there is federal funding available to address gun violence by implementing extreme risk laws and other crisis intervention strategies nationwide.
The report, Promising Approaches for Implementing Extreme Risk Laws: A Guide for Practitioners and Policymakers, provides recommendations for state and local leaders for implementing ERPOs and building sustainable infrastructures to apply these laws. The guidelines provide leaders with a framework to consistently and effectively apply extreme risk laws.
The report’s recommendations—including coordinated outreach among state and local law enforcement and judicial players, and employing other crisis intervention tools alongside ERPOs—were developed in consultation with implementers in jurisdictions where extreme risk laws are already in use. Advocates, researchers, law enforcement, clinicians, and other organizations met at a convening hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions and Everytown for Gun Safety in December 2022 to identify best practices and recommendations.
