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SB25-004 builds on past legislation to prevent gun violence and save lives
DENVER, CO – Today Governor Polis signed into law legislation to expand Colorado’s existing “Red Flag” law and proactively de-escalate violent situations and save lives.
SB26-004, sponsored by Senators Tom Sullivan, D-Centennial, and Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, and Representatives Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, and Jenny Willford, D-Northglenn, expands the list of community members eligible to petition for an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) to include health care and education institutions.
“In Colorado, our ‘Red Flag’ law has already helped prevent gun violence, but we can strengthen it to give more people the opportunity to save lives,” said Sullivan. “Adding health care and education facilities to the list of qualified petitioners for an ERPO helps ensure that trusted community members are able to reach those who are a danger to themselves or others sooner and stop more violence before it occurs.”
“Our law will help prevent gun crimes and suicides to save countless Colorado lives while safeguarding people’s rights through a proven process,” said Froelich. “Colorado Democrats created our Red Flag law in 2019 to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals. We’re strengthening this gun violence prevention law to save more lives and make Colorado a safer place to live for all.”
“Colorado’s ‘Red Flag’ law exists to prevent gun violence so that families have the freedom to go to school, church, and the grocery store without fear,” said Gonzales. “Strengthening this already highly effective law will allow us to stop preventable acts of gun violence and save more Coloradans' lives.”
“This new law refines Colorado’s Red Flag law to expand the use of this life-saving tool,” said Willford. “Co-responders often have the most direct contact and information about someone who is experiencing a crisis, and allowing them to file an ERPO petition means that the judicial system can make a more informed decision to remove access to firearms from an individual in crisis. Colorado’s Red Flag law saves lives, and our law makes it an even stronger tool to prevent gun violence.”
SB26-004 adds co-responders and entities that employ or contract with specified community members to the list of those who may petition the court for an ERPO. It also adds health care facilities, behavioral health treatment facilities, K-12 schools, and higher education institutions as institutional petitioners that may petition a court for an ERPO.
Passed in 2019, Colorado Democrats’ original ERPO legislation allows qualified individuals to petition a judge to temporarily remove a firearm from a potentially dangerous individual and interrupt gun violence before it has a chance to occur. In 2023, lawmakers passed legislation to expand the list of qualified individuals eligible to petition for an ERPO to include DAs and other law enforcement officials, licensed health care professionals, educators, and mental health professionals.
In 2024, the most recent data available, there were 164 ERPO petitions filed in Colorado.