Preventing the Next Parkland
A Case Study of Broward County’s Use and Implementation of Florida’s Extreme Risk Law
This first-of-its-kind analysis details how Florida’s extreme risk law was used to prevent gun violence in Broward County, home of the deadly Parkland school shooting that prompted the law’s adoption.
People who carry out violence against themselves or others often exhibit dangerous behavior and warning signs. Restricting firearm access in these moments of crisis is a critical way to prevent gun violence and save lives. Extreme risk laws provide law enforcement with the tools to do just that.
Preventing the Next Parkland: A Case Study of the Use and Implementation of Florida’s Extreme Risk Law in Broward County looks at every extreme risk protection order filed in Broward County during the first year of the law’s existence and makes recommendations for stakeholders based on our findings.
Florida’s extreme risk protection order law was used to remove firearm access from a man who threatened to shoot or strangle his neighbor over an argument, a man who threatened to commit a school shooting, a teenager struggling with depression who told officers he wanted to shoot himself with his father’s gun, and a woman experiencing delusions who unintentionally shot herself, among many other incidents.
As of January 2020, 17 states and the District of Columbia have enacted some form of an extreme risk protection order law. This lifesaving tool should be available to law enforcement and concerned family members in every state. We hope this report shines a light on the potential of extreme risk laws and helps facilitate their adoption and effective implementation in states and counties across the country.
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