Skip to Main Content

Giffords Responds to Lawsuit Challenging Colorado’s Extreme Risk Protection Law

 The Deputy Zackari Parrish III Violence Prevention Act, recently signed into law, authorizes extreme risk protection orders to keep guns from dangerous people 

 Rocky Mountain Gun Owners’ lawsuit lacks merit but efforts to undermine the law jeopardize the safety of Coloradans 

May 2, 2019  Giffords , the gun safety organization led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, responded to the lawsuit filed today by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners challenging the  Deputy Zackari Parrish III Violence Prevention Act  that was recently signed into law by Governor Jared Polis. The law established a process for courts to issue extreme risk protection orders (ERPO), which allow for firearms to be temporarily removed from people when they present a risk to themselves or others.

Statement from Hannah Shearer, litigation director at Giffords Law Center

“Legislators in Colorado showed leadership by passing a law that will make communities safer. Now, an extremist group that doesn’t speak for the majority of Coloradans wants to slow down progress by asking a court to delay or undo the state’s lifesaving efforts. Any baseless arguments they peddle today can’t obscure the truth that this is a constitutional law passed with broad support. We will gladly stand with state leaders to support giving families and law enforcement officials the tools they need to prevent people at risk of harming themselves or others from accessing a gun. If the challengers want to stand against taking responsible steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who are experiencing a crisis, not only will their arguments not carry water in court, they will find themselves on the wrong side of history as these laws continue to save lives.”

With Governor Polis’ signature, Colorado became the 15th state to pass an extreme risk law. California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia currently have ERPOs or substantially similar laws.

Colorado House Majority Leader Alec Garnett and Representative Tom Sullivan, whose son was tragically killed in the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting in 2012, introduced H.B. 1177. Senator Lois Court of District 31 and Senator Brittany Pettersen of District 22 co-sponsored the legislation. Throughout the legislative process, members of Colorado Gun Owners for Safety gave testimony in support of the lifesaving bill. In a Colorado Sun op-ed , Mike Heyka, a member of the gun owners group, explained why gun owners like himself should rally behind the bill.

According to a Giffords polling, 79 percent of Colorado voters support a law that would allow a judge to temporarily remove guns from people who are determined to be a risk to themselves or a threat to others. This includes 77 percent of gun-owning households in the state.

Extreme risk laws allow a family member or law enforcement officer to seek a civil court order that can be issued by a judge when presented with evidence that someone presents a risk to self or others, and which temporarily prohibits a person in crisis from possessing or purchasing firearms.

States with extreme risk laws have seen positive results and are saving lives. California enacted a version of this lifesaving law in 2014, and Washington voters overwhelmingly passed it in November 2016. Connecticut and Indiana have long-standing extreme risk laws that allow law enforcement officers to intervene when people are in crisis and have easy access to guns. In the first 14 years of the implementation of Connecticut’s law, researchers estimated that by temporarily removing weapons from 762 at-risk individuals, Connecticut’s law had saved up to 100 lives from suicide alone. In addition, nearly one-third of respondents received critical mental health and substance abuse treatment as a result of the intervention. A total of 13 states now have extreme risk laws in place.