El Paso County judges have denied more red flag law protection order petitions than any other county

Also: Sheriff's Office Where Club Q Shooting Happened Never Used Red Flag Law (HuffPost)

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Source: CBS Colorado

El Paso County judges have denied more red flag law protection order petitions than any other county in Colorado

BY KATI WEIS
NOVEMBER 25, 2022 / 9:16 PM / CBS COLORADO

The deadly shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs has prompted questions this Thanksgiving week about Colorado's "red flag" law, and when it should be enacted.

CBS News Colorado took a closer look at state court data, discovering in El Paso County — the county where Colorado Springs is located — judges have denied 38 temporary and year-long petitions to take guns away from potentially dangerous people since the red flag law went into effect in 2020. That's more than any other county in the state, the data reveals.

The law allows anyone to put forward petitions called risk protection orders against people they believe may be too dangerous to own firearms. Both law enforcement and loved ones can file those petitions in court.

State court data shows El Paso County courts deny far more risk protection orders than they grant.

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Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/el-paso-county-judges-have-denied-more-red-flag-law-protection-order-petitions-than-any-other-county-colorado/

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Source: HuffPost

Sheriff's Office Where Club Q Shooting Happened Never Used Red Flag Law

Ben Blanchet
Fri, November 25, 2022 at 10:54 AM·3 min read

The sheriff’s office in El Paso County, Colorado — the county where five people were killed at the gay nightclub Club Q last week — has never pursued action under the state’s red flag law, The Colorado Sun reported.

The law, which went into effect in 2020, allows law enforcement or family members of a person to petition a judge to temporarily take firearms away from them if they’re deemed a risk to themselves or others.

Colorado Democratshave questioned why law enforcement — which is not mandated to petition a judge under the law — did not previously use it in the case of Club Q shooting suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich, who was arrested last year after threatening to harm his mother with a bomb and other weapons.

The El Paso County District Attorney’s Office did not pursue formal charges in the since-sealed case, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

A sheriff’s office spokesman confirmed to The Colorado Sun that the office has not initiated an extreme risk protection order — the first move to initiate a firearms seizure. However, he did not say why it has never taken action under the law.

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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/sheriffs-office-where-club-q-145420688.html