Red flag law expansion heads to Colorado House after Senate approves bill - Denver Post
Thomas Clayton
Bill would add behavioral health first responders, certain institutions as eligible to request gun forfeiture
The Colorado Senate approved an expansion of Colorado’s red flag law on Tuesday, sending the proposal to the House for consideration.
Senate Bill 4 would build off Colorado’s 2019 extreme risk protection orders law, which allows family members, law enforcement, health care professionals and educators to petition the courts to require people to surrender their firearms temporarily. A judge must find the person to be a risk to themselves or others.
This bill would expand the list of qualified petitioners to include behavioral health professionals who are co-responders with police or other authorities in emergencies, as well as health care and educational institutions.
The Senate approved the measure on a near-party-line vote, 20-13. Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, of Pueblo, was the only Democrat to vote against the measure. Democrats have nearly a 2-to-1 majority in both chambers of the legislature.
“Extreme risk protection orders save lives. Red flag laws prevent harm,” Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat who supported the bill, said. “These policies, and this bill that we are debating here today, address the public health crisis that is gun violence.”
Republicans warned that the bill would erode Second Amendment rights and due process protections because people could face a red flag petition without having any criminal convictions. Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson, an Air Force veteran, worried the bill would dissuade gun owners from seeking mental health help because the institution providing it could request that they lose access to their firearms.
If the bill becomes law, it “will inflict unnecessary harm on innocent citizens, waste taxpayer dollars and strain trust in our institutions,” Zamora Wilson, an El Paso County Republican, said.
Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Centennial Democrat and sponsor of the bill, accused opponents of playing “Chicken Little” by constantly warning the sky would fall on gun rights. The original red flag law went into effect six years ago. In that time, officials have gathered ample evidence to show the law hasn’t resulted in widespread confiscation, he said.
In those six years, almost 700 extreme risk protection orders have been requested across the state, according to data collected by the state. Of those, 478 petitions were granted on either a temporary or a long-term basis.
“You don’t have to imagine (what the policy will do). This legislation has been in effect for six years,” Sullivan said. Meanwhile, “people in this state, in my community, are asking us to do more” to prevent gun violence, he added.
 | Tom Clayton Communication and Media Specialist, Public Affairs |
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