Laws That Remove Guns From ‘At Risk’ People Save Lives

“Red flag” laws are an effective means of preventing suicide, a new study finds.

About one life was saved for every 17 times that an extreme risk protection order (ERPO) kept firearms out of the hands of a troubled individual, researchers reported Aug. 20 in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

“This analysis provides important information for making the case that ERPOs can save lives,” said lead researcher Jeffrey Swanson, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, in Durham, N.C.

“These laws do not affect private gun ownership rights for anyone who is not dangerous and is law-abiding, and they are broadly supported by people across the political spectrum,” Swanson added in a Duke news release.

Judges issue ERPOs after determining that a person poses an imminent risk to either themselves or other people, researchers explained in background notes. The person’s guns are temporarily taken away.

Laws allowing ERPOs are now active in 21 states and the District of Columbia.

For the study, researchers analyzed ERPOs issued against nearly 4,600 people in California, Connecticut, Maryland and Washington. They used death records to determine whether these people had wound up committing suicide.

Guns are far and away the most lethal means of suicide, with a 90% fatality rate, researchers said. In all other suicide methods, only about 10% of those attempting suicide actually die.

Researchers’ analysis found that ERPOs likely contributed to the prevention of approximately 269 suicides — one life for every 17 times an order is issued.

The results demonstrate that more states would benefit from red flag laws, and that red flag laws should be used more often to protect people from themselves, Swanson said.

“Even if we reduce many of the things that motivate people to injurious behavior, we still live in a society where people have easy access to technology designed to kill efficiently,” Swanson said. “Addressing access to firearms for people who are at risk of harming themselves or others is an evidence-based approach that can save lives.”

More information

RAND Corp. has more about extreme risk protection orders.

SOURCE: Duke University, news release, Aug. 20, 2024