Michigan Red Flag Law used to Confiscate Guns

Implemented in February 2024, The Red Flag Law allows authorities to seize guns

Michigan judges have issued fewer than 40 gun confiscation orders under the state’s newly enacted red flag law, according to official reports. This law, which took effect in February, grants authorities the power to seize firearms from individuals deemed likely to harm themselves or others. Law enforcement and prosecutors indicate that the law has been effectively implemented, despite ongoing concerns about due process and the risk of volatile situations.

A Battle Creek man with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder has stopped taking his medication and is now making threats to his wife regarding a potential murder-suicide.

A 27-year-old expressing suicidal thoughts amid divorce proceedings, his wife worried he might take those thoughts to heart.

An elementary school student, with access to his parents’ firearms, made threats to shoot a classmate.

Police confiscated firearms from individuals or their parents in each of the three scenarios outlined under Michigan’s new extreme risk protection order law, commonly referred to as a red flag statute. These instances were part of the approximately thirty extreme risk protection orders issued across the state since the law was implemented in mid-February.

The recent legislation empowers law enforcement to confiscate firearms from individuals assessed by a judge as potentially dangerous to themselves or others, and in the face of opposition from gun rights advocates, officials assert that the law is functioning effectively as intended.