TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Kentucky’s governor is calling for red flag laws in the state following a shooting at a downtown Louisville bank that killed five people and injured eight others.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said while the laws may not have made a difference in this case, they could prevent more mass shootings.
“I believe we can respect and honor people’s Second Amendment rights to protect themselves and their family — but, at the same time, at least take a step so that we can intervene when we know somebody is about to go out and murder a whole bunch of people,” he said.
Florida already has a red flag law in place, put in place in 2018 after the Parkland school shooting. Surrounding states like Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi do not have such laws.
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Florida Republican Congressman Bryon Donalds contends red flag laws are unconstitutional.
“So, in short, you’re actually violating the constitutional rights of an American citizen. And then they have to prove to the court that their rights should be reinstated,” he said.
In the state of Florida, law enforcement can file a risk protection order (RPO) if they identify someone as a threat to themselves or others. The order goes through prosecutors and ultimately ends up in a county courthouse, where a judge decides whether to take someone’s guns away.
Jacksonville defense attorney Gene Nichols says so far, red flag laws have made Florida a safer state.
“Sure, there’s no question that Florida is safer because if the system allows for weapons to be taken away from one person who they need to be taken away from, who is having a mental health crisis, who is a threat to the community, if it works, and we are a safer place because of it,” he said.
Florida Supreme Court records show that over a recent eight-month span, there were 2,467 petitions for risk protection orders. Judges granted 1,988 of those, or more than 80% of the cases.
“There’s really no fix other than hoping that the individual will rely on what the court order is. What we know is this, we have not had incidents, we don’t want incidents, we don’t want to be proven wrong, but when it’s all said and done, people seem to be following the law because we don’t seem to have incidents after the arrest protection order is in place,” Nichols said.
Overall, Nichols is in favor of all states having some sort of red flag laws in place.