Aaron Shev News Today

In the first three years of California's 'red flag' law, nearly all Gun Violence Restraining Orders were filed by law enforcement.

In the wake of the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead, legislators in Washington, D.C., and across the country are debating “red flag” laws or extreme risk protection orders, or ERPOs. Such orders, known in California as gun violence restraining orders, or GVROs, are in place  in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

A new study from the Violence Prevention Research Program shows that California’s “red flag” law was utilized for 58 threatened mass shootings during the first three years after it was implemented. The majority of GVROs (96.5%) were filed by law enforcement officers to prevent threatened violence.

Low-income communities of color experienced significantly greater increases in firearm violence, homicides and assaults compared to more affluent communities during the first five months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study from the Violence Prevention Research Program.