Researchers say extreme risk protection order laws help temporarily remove guns from people in crisis, but more research needs to be done and more awareness of the law is needed in Minnesota.
Minnesota’s extreme risk protection order (ERPO) law, or “red flag law,” went into effect in January 2024. Law enforcement agencies, family members, and courts around the state have slowly started to use the law to temporarily remove firearms from people in danger of harm to themselves or others.
Several studies have shown that red flag laws can reduce suicide risk, says Dr. April Zeoli, an associate professor of health management and policy core director at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention at the University of Michigan. “The results are remarkably consistent from study to study, and that increases our confidence that we’re finding something real,” she says.