A bipartisan Senate bill aimed at keeping guns away from mass shooters would likely help reduce the staggering number of gun suicides in the U.S.
Even without the type of federal incentives Graham's and Blumenthal's bill might offer, 17 states and the District of Columbia have already enacted red flag legislation. Most of the laws were passed after a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, left 17 dead. The accused shooter had a history of making threats, red flag behavior that authorities had been warned about.
The laws generally provide for extreme-risk protection orders. They allow police, friends and relatives to report someone they fear is at risk of imminently harming themselves or someone else to the authorities. A judge may then decide to order police to temporarily seize the person’s firearms. The target of the removal can swiftly challenge the petition in court. If they lose, they can ask for the guns’ return after the risk of harm has passed.
last year found those measures helped lead to a 13.7 percent drop in the suicide gun rate in Connecticut, and to a 7.5 percent drop in Indiana.In the first year the law was in place, Seattle police seized 43 guns from people deemed to be a danger.
"Close to 70 percent of firearm deaths here are suicides," Wyatt said of Seattle."This is an effective tool for families and law enforcement to intervene.
One struggle, she said, has been in making the public aware of the law, which allows citizens and law enforcement to seek help for people they fear could hurt themselves or others. To date, the vast majority of the petitions have been brought by law enforcement.
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