Nearly 70 Percent of Alaskans Support A Policy Like An Extreme Risk Law
JUNEAU, Alaska. — Today, the Alaska legislature is considering legislation to pass an Extreme Risk law (HB 89), a critical tool to help temporarily remove firearms from those at imminent risk to themselves or others. Alaska has the third-highest rate of gun suicides in the U.S., with an average of 70 hours between gun suicide deaths. 71 % of gun deaths in Alaska are by gun suicide. According to a survey conducted by Alaska Survey Research, 69 % of Alaskans, including 55% of Republicans and 72% of rural residents, support a policy allowing a family member or law enforcement to ask a judge to temporarily suspend a person’s access to guns if they have evidence that the person poses a significant risk to themselves or others. According to a new 97Percent survey, nationally, 72% of gun owners support ERPO policies.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ALASKA’S PROPOSED ERPO LAW:
- In many instances of gun violence, there are clear warning signs that the shooter posed a serious threat before the shooting. Extreme Risk laws, sometimes called “red flag” laws, empower loved ones and law enforcement to intervene in order to temporarily prevent someone in crisis from accessing firearms.
- When a person is in crisis, family members and local law enforcement are often the first to see warning signs that they could pose a risk to themselves or others. But they often lack the legal tools to prevent a person in crisis from accessing firearms.
- Extreme risk laws allow people who recognize that their loved one is in crisis to contact law enforcement and ask them to petition a court for a Gun Violence Protective Order. They also allow family members, intimate partners, or household members to file these petitions if they prefer not to involve law enforcement in the process.
- If a court determines that a person presents a danger of injuring themselves or others with a firearm, that person would be temporarily prohibited from purchasing and possessing guns and required to relinquish their guns while the order is in effect.
- Twenty-one other states and D.C. have extreme risk laws.
- These laws work, and are a critical suicide prevention tool.
- Alaska has the third-highest rate of gun suicides in the U.S., with an average of 70 hours between gun suicide deaths.
- A 2018 study of Connecticut’s ERPO law found that the law was associated with a 14% reduction in firearm suicide rates. 10 years after Indiana passed its Extreme Risk law, the state’s firearm suicide rate decreased by 7.5%.
- Extreme Risk Laws are Embraced and Widely Used in States Across the Political Spectrum, Both Urban and Rural.
- Between 1999 and 2023, at least 49,091 Extreme Risk petitions were filed. The majority of these petitions – 96% – have been filed since the Parkland shooting.
- States across the political spectrum have Extreme Risk laws. Indiana was among the first states to pass an extreme risk law in 2005 and according to data through 2023, 1,073 have been filed in the state. As of 2023, Florida, which passed an extreme risk law in the wake of the Parkland school mass shooting in 2018, has filed the most ERPOs in the nation at Florida 2018 as 14,487 filings. More information about state by state ERPO filings can be found here.
- Extreme Risk Laws include robust due process protections.
- ERPOs are designed for severe crises and a small number of individuals who may not respond to other interventions. The goal isn’t quantity – it’s using this option effectively in the right circumstances.
- Final orders—which last for up to six months—can only be issued after notice and an opportunity to be heard. At the hearing, the person would have the chance to respond to evidence and show that they do not pose a serious risk to themselves or others.
- A temporary order—which lasts no more than 20 days—can be issued before a full hearing is held, but only if there’s evidence that an order is necessary to prevent significant danger and that less restrictive alternatives have already been tried and were ineffective.
- Extreme Risk laws are a temporary tool to prevent tragedies—the person’s gun rights are immediately restored when the order expires and any firearms they’ve turned in are returned to them promptly.
- The model process for obtaining an extreme risk protection order (ERPO), which provides due process protections can be found here.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or intimate partner violence, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, available 24/7, for confidential assistance from a trained advocate. If you’re unable to speak safely via phone, you can chat online at thehotline.org.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org/chat to chat with a counselor from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides 24/7, free, and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress anywhere in the US.