Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signs measure expanding who can petition to remove someone’s guns under ‘red flag’ law
K-12 schools, colleges and health care centers now join the list of who can seek a court order to remove someone’s access to firearms for up to one year
Robert Tann Follow
Robert Tann/The Aspen Times
Institutions like K-12 schools, colleges, health care facilities and treatment centers will now have the ability to petition a judge to temporarily remove someone’s firearms under a Colorado law signed Monday by Gov. Jared Polis.
The measure, Senate Bill 4, builds on the state’s 2019 “red flag” law that allows certain people to seek a court order to remove someone’s access to guns for up to one year, if that person is deemed a threat to themselves or others.
The original law allowed law enforcement and family members to petition a judge for temporary firearm removal, and has since been expanded to include teachers and health care professionals. The latest expansion in SB 4 now extends that ability to institutions, not just their individual employees.
“This law will help protect Coloradans and our communities from senseless gun violence,” Polis said in a statement, adding that the “updated legislation builds on our strong law to promote safe gun ownership and expands the list of those who can keep our communities safe through petitioning a protection order.”
Between 2020 and 2024, there were 692 petitions filed under the red flag law, of which 478 led to the temporary removal of someone’s firearms, according to statistics from the Colorado Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Support Local Journalism
SB 4 was sponsored by Sens. Tom Sullivan, D-Centennial, and Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, and Reps. Meg Froelich, D-Denver, and Jenny Willford, D-Thornton.
Sullivan has been a lead proponent of legislation aimed at reducing gun violence. His son, Alex, was killed in the 2012 Aurora theater shooting.
“The people in our state, in my community, are asking us to do more,” Sullivan said in February as SB 3 was being debated in the Senate. “… We’re doing more. We’re saving lives. We’ll continue to do that.”
Republicans were uniformly opposed to the bill, which they derided as an affront to 2nd Amendment rights.
“Under the guise of public safety, it threatens to expand the already burdensome (petition) system in ways that will inflict unnecessary harm on innocent citizens, strain our taxpayer dollars and erode the very fabric of trust in our institutions,” Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson, R-Colorado Springs, said during February’s Senate debate.
SB 4 is among a suite of gun control legislation brought by Democrats this year.
The legislature on April 2 passed House Bill 1144, which would ban the manufacture of 3-D printed guns and gun components. The bill is now awaiting action from Polis.
Another measure, Senate Bill 43, which would restrict the sale or transfer of gun barrels to only federally licensed firearm dealers and require dealers to keep records of barrel sales, passed the Senate and is awaiting a vote in the House. Additionally, House Bill 1126, which would mandate new security and storage measures for firearm dealers, passed the House and is awaiting action in the Senate.
