What is the new law and how did it prevent potentially dangerous gun sales?
Sources are taking a look at just how effective Michigan’s Red Flag Law has been one full year after being implemented. The Michigan gun law went into effect February 14, 2024 on the eve of the Michigan State University shooting that killed three and injured five.
According to the Associated Press Michigan and twenty other states have signed new Red Flag Laws into effect to prevent gun owners from hurting themselves– or others.
What is a Red Flag Law?
Known formally as the Extreme Risk Protection Order law in Michigan, the University of Michigan’s Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention explains these “red flag laws” as giving civil courts the ability to, “temporarily prevent people at risk of harming themselves or others from possessing or purchasing firearms. In Michigan, the ERPO law allows law enforcement, families and household members, and healthcare providers to file an ERPO petition.”
If an ERPO is then ordered the individual has 24 hours to turn in all firearms; in some extreme cases weapons must be surrendered immediately. While the original term for an ERPO is one year both the petitioner and the person served may ask for the order to be modified, extended, or terminated.