As part of the comprehensive gun control measures passed under the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Safety Act, were Florida’s “red flag”, or risk protection laws. This enabled law enforcement to be able to carry out a warrant to search and detain firearms from a person deemed to be a credible mental health risk under the state’s law.
Once the order is carried out a legal process ensues and ultimately, it’s a judge’s discretion as to if the firearms are to be returned to those they were detained from originally. Given the sensitivity of the topic and the concern by lawful gun owners that this potentially is government overreach, I’ve closely followed the adaptation by the state.
To date, it seems to have been carried out responsibly. The latest data from the state shows just over 3,500 uses of the law in Florida, or an average of five per day being carried out. Clearly, it’s become a standard practice for law enforcement across our state. Use of the law is also picking up steam. Through the first year of its inception only around 1,100 uses of the law occurred. That figure more than doubled over the past year.
On a relative basis, Broward remains one of the most aggressive counties in the state for use of the red flag protection order. Out of Florida’s 67 counties, Broward ranks 13th, Miami-Dade 39th, and Palm Beach 44th.
In the first year of the law, Polk County was the most aggressive in using risk protection orders. Over the past year, Pinellas and Highland counties have become the most aggressive. All three counties are led by Republicans. We’ve not seen party politics/ideology enter the equation for use generally statewide. Seventeen states, including Florida, have “Red Flag” laws. The use of risk protection orders continue to grow in Florida two years after the passage of the law.
We’ll never know if any of these orders being carried out prevented another attack. Regardless, and thankfully, we haven’t had any like what led to the creation of this law.
As we look forward, it’s worth noting that according to the FBI database, only 25% of mass murderers are from a medical perspective, mentally ill. It’s also why I’ve previously laid out and advocated for a four-point plan that addresses gun control, hate, mental health, and religion. In my view, based on two decades worth of research, there is a minimum of those four considerations that need to be accounted for in our society. We’ve addressed just one of the four, but with Florida set to eliminate Common Core in our schools, we could be well on our way to an important second reform.
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