2020-2022, Complete

A Multi-State Evaluation of Extreme Risk Protection Orders: Implementation, Outcomes, and Jurisdictional Variations

Affiliated Project

Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) are a relatively new legal tool to reduce gun violence risk through temporarily suspending a high-risk individual’s ability to access guns. This study will provide empirical evidence on how ERPOs are being used and whether ERPO laws are associated with reduced suicide risk.

Abstract

To conduct this multi-state study, the project team will collect and code ERPO petitions and orders in each of six states in terms of respondent demographics, petitioner type, type of harm feared (to self and/or others), dangerous behaviors, access to firearms, and court decisions. The team will use clustering models and logistic regressions to identify factors associated with ERPOs being filed and granted. The team will also conduct outcomes analyses at the ecological level, analyzing the outcome of firearm suicide. Mental health and psychiatric data available in three states will allow us to conduct individual-level outcomes analyses on mental health outcomes. All but two of the existing 19 state ERPO laws have been enacted since 2015, and there is scant evidence on these policies. This study is the most comprehensive and ambitious project on ERPOs to date and will provide the public, including stakeholders and policy makers, with greater insight into their use and effect.

Project Team

April M. Zeoli, PhD, MPH
Shannon Frattaroli, PhD, MPH, Co-Principal Investigator

Funders

National Collaborative for Gun Violence Research

Partners

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

University of California, Davis

University of Connecticut

University of Colorado

University of Southern Florida

University of Washington

Yale University