What to Know
- Starting Saturday, NY's "red-flag" bill would allow people to request a judge order to prevent at-risk individuals from owning firearms
- Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) measure, among other gun control laws, in February
- Someone will have to file a petition to start a case in the Supreme Court and a judge will decide in one day whether to grant the order
Starting Saturday, a New York legislation known as the "red-flag" bill would allow law enforcement officials, district attorneys, school officials and family members to request a confiscation of firearms from an individual who has been deemed a threat to themselves or others.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) measure, among other gun control laws, in February in an effort to to prevent gun violence following the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
The ERPO would prohibit people who are at high risk of using a firearm to hurt themselves or others to own the weapons, to buy them or to give up their possession of firearms they already own.
The petitioner will have to file a petition to start a case in the Supreme Court and a judge will decide whether to grant a temporary ERPO on the same day, according to the New York State Unified Court System.
Then, the individual will receive a hearing date for the judge to decide if a final ERPO will be ordered for up to 1 year.
Cuomo called the legislation "a big step forward" for commonsense gun control.
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"There is a solution, and we have six years of history to show that the planet does not stop spinning, people don't lose guns, it doesn't bankrupt an industry," Cuomo said in February at a state Capitol news conference with anti-gun violence advocates.
