Red flag laws by state

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have red flag laws, which allow family members, law enforcement and, in some cases, health care workers, friends and co-workers to file for an extreme risk protection order. These orders allow for the seizure of firearms and temporarily prevent individuals from purchasing more.

While Minnesota and Michigan also have red flag laws, their laws went into effect in 2024 and were not included in the analysis.

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Some states may show a rate of 0 petitions per 100,000 residents. This does not necessarily mean no petitions were filed; rather, it indicates that the number of petitions filed was so low that the calculated rate rounds to less than 1 per 100,000 residents.

Chart: Amanda Hernández/StatelineSource: Everytown for Gun Safety, Stateline analysisGet the dataEmbed Created with Datawrapper