On Friday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed Red Flag legislation creating an Extreme Risk Protection Order, making his the 15th state to empower family members or law enforcement to ask a judge to temporarily suspend a person’s access to guns when they pose a serious risk to themselves or others.
The bill’s enactment — which comes as Coloradans prepare to mark 20 years this week since the Columbine tragedy — makes Colorado the latest in a trio of Western states to enact major gun safety legislation this year:
In February, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak signed legislation requiring a background check on all gun sales in the state. In 2016, Nevada voters passed a background check ballot initiative that then-Attorney General Adam Laxalt and then-Gov. Brian Sandoval failed to implement. Last year, Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund worked hand-in-hand to elect leaders in Nevada who would respect the will of the people and pass legislation to implement the background check ballot initiative.
Also this year, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a background check bill requiring background checks on all gun sales. Gov. Lujan Grisham made gun violence prevention a core part of her campaign last year, earning the support of both Moms Demand Action and Everytown, and giving the effort to require a background check on all gun sales in New Mexico new momentum.
Colorado’s Red Flag law, meanwhile, comes after Everytown for Gun Safety, volunteers with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and survivors of gun violence worked tirelessly to elect a gun sense majority in the Colorado Senate and propel Gov. Polis to victory.
After the tragic school shooting in Parkland last year, Americans took to the polls to elect candidates who would work to prevent gun violence. Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico are just the latest examples that the work Americans from all walks of life did to elect gun sense candidates is already saving lives.
