Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes the use of extreme risk protective orders.

Highlights:

• Defines an “extreme risk protection order” as an order that enjoins or prohibits an individual from possessing a firearm for a fixed period of between 6 months and 2 years (Sec. 2).

• Authorizes a law enforcement officer or city or county attorney to file a petition for relief of a firearm that alleges the individual poses a significant danger of bodily harm to themselves or others (Sec. 2).

• Specifies that the petition for relief must describe to the best of the petitioner’s knowledge, the types and location of any firearms believed to be possessed by the respondent (Sec. 2).

• Requires all health records and subsequent information provided in the petition to be protected from public disclosure but may be provided to law enforcement agencies as required (Sec. 2).

• Requires a hearing be held by the court responsible for issuing the petition no later than 14 days after petitions issuing and authorizes personal service of notice to be made at any time up to 12 hours prior to the time of the hearing (Sec. 3).

• Requires that if personal service cannot be made, the court may order service of the petition by alternative means that include (Sec. 3):

• The last known location of the respondent’s employment;

• The names and locations of the respondent’s parents, siblings, children, or other close relatives; and

• The names and locations of other individuals likely to know the respondent’s whereabouts.  

• Requires the petitioner at a hearing for an extreme risk protection order to provide a preponderance of evidence that the respondent poses a significant danger of bodily harm to themselves or other individuals by possessing a firearm, including (Sec. 3):

• Any history of threats or acts of violence by the respondents directed toward another individual;

• Any history of use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force by the respondent against another individual;

• A prior arrest for a felony offense or a conviction for a violent misdemeanor, including stalking;

• An animal cruelty conviction;

• Any unlawful and reckless use, display, or brandishing of a firearm by the respondent; or

• Any history of self-harm by the respondent.

Full Bill Text