SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Since Jan. 1, when Minnesota's ‘Red Flag Law’ first went into effect, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said his office has requested three Extreme Risk Protection Orders to take a person's guns away.
A "red flag law" allows a family member, law enforcement or city official or guardian to petition for an Extreme Risk Protection Order that works to prohibit a person from possessing firearms for up to one year if "the respondent poses a significant danger of bodily harm for other persons or is at significant risk of suicide by possessing a firearm."
Statewide, Choi said 77 Extreme Risk Protection Orders have been requested since the law went into effect. Those numbers may be lower than you'd expect. Choi said it's because law enforcement officials are still figuring out how to use this new tool properly.
"We can use this new tool and be intentional about it,” Choi said.
Moving forward Choi said his office will require every officer who refers a case for felony charges to fill out a checklist to see if the individual may be a danger to themselves and others.
If the individual does pose a risk, then the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office and law enforcement officers would work together to request an Extreme Risk Protection Order to take the person’s guns away.
"This is about preventing tragedy,” Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said.
Sheriff Fletcher supports this aggressive approach because in many cases he said a dangerous person could walk away without charges, but an order could still take their guns away temporarily.
"We talk to family members, and they say well we tried to warn people, we called the police, we told you what was going to happen,” Sheriff Fletcher said. “Our job is to be smart and to think ahead and figure out where the next tragedy is going to occur.”
The county is also working to educate the community so that family members can request an order to take a loved one’s guns away as well, and there are options to keep that request private so they don't damage a person's reputation.
“A judge has the option to seal those cases and keep them from public view, which helps maintain the dignity of a person who is likely going through a mental health crisis and needs to seek help,” consultant Christopher Carita said during a press conference Thursday afternoon.
Carita is the founder of Violence Prevention and Threat Management. He is a consultant Ramsey County hired to help officials create new procedures to better utilize Minnesota’s new ‘red flag law.’
Carita said Minnesota is among 21 states that have ‘red flag laws’ in place. In Florida there have been cases where officers responded to a mental health crisis and were able to request and obtain an Extreme Risk Protection Order within a few hours.
“They were still on the scene when it came back,” Carita explained. “This law is all about how an agency approaches it. Different police departments treat it as okay, it’s good we have it, we’ll worry about it if we need it. The problem with that is when no one takes responsibility for moving it forward that’s exactly what happens, you wait until there’s a tragedy where you needed it and then you’re not prepared to use it properly,” Carita said.
On Thursday, more than 150 police officers, attorneys, social workers and victim advocates met in Saint Paul to discuss Extreme Risk Protection Orders and how they could be used more effectively in the community.
"We can actually save lives. I really believe that,” Choi said.
The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office also provided the following statistics that show which trends have emerged since Minnesota’s ‘red flag law’ went into effect on Jan. 1:
For the first 8 months of 2024
77 ERPOS (Emergency Risk Protection Orders) filed statewide
90% filed by law enforcement
Gender: Predominantly male, 88%
Race: Most respondents white, 80%
Mental Health: Three-quarters had a history of mental health issues
Firearms: 41% had one gun in the home, 19% had two, 40% had more than three
Domestic Violence: Half of all ERPO cases involved a risk of domestic violence
Mental Health: 26% of subjects were reported to be experiencing psychosis at the time of the filing
Threats to Law Enforcement: 19% of cases included threats directed toward law enforcement, often involving “suicide by cop”
Murder-Suicide Threats: 35% of cases involved threats of murder-suicide
Sheriff James Stuart with the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association also shared a statement regarding Minnesota’s ‘red flag law’ and the opportunities to use this new law more effectively in the future:
While Minnesota does not have a “Red flag law”, per se, the MSA has been actively engaged with the ERPO implementation process.
Our association has provided insight on the state's ERPO implementation and has offered training and resource for Minnesota law enforcement, and several other professions that have been impacted by this law.
Once people understand the specifics of the law, we have generally found it to be well received within the community.
It has also been used as a tool by families and law enforcement to keep communities, and individuals, safer.
The sheriffs who have been involved with this process to this point, have not expressed any difficulties to us.
The elected sheriffs of Minnesota always strive to provide the safest communities possible.
The ERPO is another tool that can be used to accomplish that objective in appropriate circumstances.
We have not heard any Minnesota sheriffs express an unwillingness to enforce an ERPO, nor would I expect to hear such a thing.