As of Aug. 31, there have been nearly 300 mass shootings in the United States this year. There is no question this is a serious problem, but many state governments have failed to adequately address it. Seventeen states have an ERPO (extreme risk protective order), otherwise known as “red flag laws,” but Utah is not among them.
An ERPO would give the police the ability to temporarily remove a person’s guns or weapons under circumstances where the person is threatening to harm himself or others, but critics say this law would infringe on our 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. They also argue that it gives courts the power to seize a person’s weapons when they have not yet committed a crime. In 2014, Elliot Rodger committed a string of murders in Santa Barbara, Calif. Rodger’s parents had warned police that he was disturbed, wanted to hurt others and had guns, but authorities said they couldn’t do anything until the young man had actually committed a crime. It is for just such a circumstance that we need a red flag law implemented in our state.
Tanya Dorius, Bountiful
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