INDIANAPOLIS -- Only five states in the country have laws that allow officers to take firearms away from people they believe are a danger to themselves or others - and Indiana is one of them.
Indiana’s attorney general sent a public safety advisory Wednesday to prosecutors and law enforcement officials statewide to remind them of the state’s “Red Flag Law."
“Like all Americans, I was sickened by the horrifying news last week out of Parkland, Florida,” Attorney General Curtis Hill said. “Tragedies like this one are staining our nation. As we lift up our voices in prayer for the victims and their families, we must renew our commitment to taking concrete actions to stop gun violence in our country.”
Indiana’s “Red Flag Law” was enacted in 2005 following the shooting death of Indianapolis Police Department Officer Jake Laird.
Officer Laird was killed by a Kenneth Anderson, a mentally ill man whose guns had been confiscated but were later returned to him because police had no legal authority to keep them.
Later that year, he shot and killed his mother before randomly opening fire in a neighborhood. When police responded to the scene he shot and wounded five officers, including Officer Laird, before he was fatally shot by police.
Under Indiana’s “Red Flag Law” a person is considered dangerous if they present an imminent risk of physical injury to themselves or others. A person can also be considered dangerous if they present a potential risk of physical injury -and- has either been diagnosed with a mental illness and “failed to take prescribed medication, or if there is documented evidence that the person has “a propensity for violent or emotionally unstable conduct.”
“Indiana’s ‘Red Flag Law’ is a common-sense measure that in no way inhibits the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” Attorney General Hill said. “This useful provision is not as well-known, even among law enforcement, as one might expect. That’s why this week we are distributing a public safety advisory raising awareness of the law and urging police and prosecutors to make full use of it as we work together to protect all Hoosiers.”
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