These laws provide a life-saving intervention in a moment of crisis. Does your state have one?

John–

In a moment of crisis, access to a gun can mean life or death.

Requesting an extreme risk protection order to disrupt access to a firearm may be a life-saving intervention. We know that giving loved ones and others a way to intervene can help prevent firearm suicide, school or workplace shootings, or other types of interpersonal violence.

But these laws are only effective if the public knows what to do when they see warning signs—so we're raising awareness of how people can intervene. Learn more about extreme risk protection laws on our new website, One Thing You Can Do.

The evidence is clear: Extreme risk protection orders save lives.

Bartholomew County, IN: 2020 | A woman contacted the sheriff's office after her husband made repeated comments about harming himself or using a firearm to provoke others to harm him. After investigating, law enforcement used the extreme risk law to remove 20 firearms from the home.

Middletown, CT: 2023 | A risk protection order was issued after a man made comments about purchasing a gun, "shooting up a school," and taking down a local middle school. Although police did not find any firearms in his home, a risk protection order was issued to prevent him from buying firearms or ammunition.

Broome County, NY: 2023 | An extreme risk protection order was issued after a 66-year-old man attempted to smother his girlfriend while she was asleep, and threatened to shoot and use a taser baton on her. Law enforcement arrested the man, and found a loaded, illegally owned revolver and ammunition at his home.

Danbury, CT: 2023 | A risk protection order was completed after an employee at a local business threatened to kill another employee and to "shoot up and bomb the building." He had a valid pistol permit and multiple registered firearms—and when police executed a search warrant, they found a cache of weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

States around the country are increasingly turning to extreme risk laws as a common-sense and evidence-backed method to reduce gun violence. These policies exist in 21 states and Washington, DC, meaning over half of the U.S. population has access to these life-saving interventions.

Check out One Thing You Can Do to see if your state has this critical policy and learn how you can use it to prevent future tragedies.

Thanks for helping keep our communities safe,

Jennifer Hoppe
She/Her/Hers
Senior Director, National Programs
Everytown Support Fund

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund (the "Everytown Support Fund") is the education, research, and litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country with over eight million supporters. The Everytown Support Fund seeks to improve our understanding of the causes of gun violence and help to reduce it by conducting groundbreaking original research, developing evidence-based policies, communicating this knowledge to the American public, and advancing gun safety and gun violence prevention in communities and the courts. Learn more at www.everytownsupportfund.org. Contributions to Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
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