A new study on extreme risk protection orders found that for every 17 times an order removed guns from people who presented a risk of harming themselves or others, one potential suicide death was likely prevented. When orders involved someone with a known suicide risk, the effect was even stronger: For every 13 orders, an estimated one life was saved.

Extreme risk protection order laws enable law enforcement, and sometimes other relevant parties, to petition a judge for an order temporarily barring people who may pose a danger from having firearms. The analysis, published last week in The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, examined risk orders for more than 4,500 people in California, Connecticut, Maryland, and Washington — and researchers were careful to note that application of the law likely varied across states and local jurisdictions. Eight people in their sample died by gun suicide while their order was active, and 12 others did so after their order concluded. Still, their study suggests that these laws can go a long way: Though guns are involved in a relatively small proportion of suicide attempts, survivability is low.

The study adds new evidence to a body of research indicating that these laws, sometimes referred to as “red flag” laws, can reduce suicide deaths. Nearly two dozen states have a version of an ERPO law on the books — but as The Trace’s Mike Spies recently reported, they’re under unprecedented threat. In an investigation published with Rolling Stone, Spies revealed that the Second Amendment Foundation, a gun rights group that files lawsuits around the country to overturn gun restrictions, has zeroed in on ERPO laws. Spies’s piece uncovers how the group misconstrued the narrative in a Maryland case to promote a nationwide legal campaign. The SAF’s initiative is dubbed “Capture the Flag.” 

The stakes are high. Though protection orders alone are not a panacea for preventing firearm injury and mortality in the United States,” authors of the new study write, “they are an important piece in the puzzle of gun violence prevention” — one meant to protect not only the people around their subject, but the person subject to it, too.

From The Trace

What to Know Today

A Trump-appointed U.S. district judge in Kansas last week ruled that a long-standing ban on possessing machine guns violates the Second Amendment, in a criminal case centered on the defendant’s possession of such a weapon and of a Glock switch. While Second Amendment scholar Jacob Charles said the decision is likely to be overturned, “the fact it occurred is another signal that Bruen is simply choose your own adventure.” [U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas]

The Baltimore Police Department has been under a federal consent decree for seven years — and if the latest hearing on the agreement is anything to go by, it doesn’t look like an exit is in the near future. While the department is making progress, it’s falling short in all but two areas, including community policing. On the other hand, the progress police have made hasn’t made Baltimore more dangerous: Homicide clearance rates have jumped, and gun violence is down. [The Baltimore Banner] 

Homicides dropped nationwide last year, but polls indicate that Americans still feel unsafe. What role does the media play in warping perceptions about violence? [Los Angeles Times] 

Newly obtained records reveal new details about the highly unusual pardoning of Daniel Perry, the Texas man who was convicted of murder for shooting and killing a racial justice protester in 2020. The documents show that, six weeks before recommending clemency, members of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles — all appointed to the position by GOP Governor Greg Abbott — were aware that Perry was arrested in 2005 on a charge that he violently assaulted his sister. [Texas Monthly] 

In 2019, a Phoenix police officer shot and killed 19-year-old Jacob Harris — but three of Harris’s friends were sent to prison for his death, charged under Arizona’s felony murder law. Now, thanks largely to community organizing, a county judge is giving them a chance at post-conviction relief. [The Appeal] 

Two years ago, Wisconsin’s rate of police killings, examined over a decade’s worth of data, ranked among the lowest in the nation. But since then, police killings there have risen precipitously, even as fewer deadly force cases involve a subject with an alleged weapon. There isn’t a clear reason for the reversal. [Wisconsin Watch] 

Last year, Tennessee enacted a “zero tolerance” law that requires school districts to expel students for one year if they’ve been found to make threats of mass violence, a measure educators worried could be applied to students who pose no serious threat. Those concerns appear to have borne out: After a 10-year-old pointed his finger in the shape of a gun last September, the school kicked him out for an entire year. It wasn’t the first time officials used the law to expel students for mildly disruptive behavior. [ProPublica] 

A U.S. Army soldier was indicted on federal charges of unlawful firearms trafficking and making false statements to the government about his connections to an anti-government group. An indictment alleges that Kai Liam Nix “had been a member of a group dedicated to the use of violence or force to overthrow the United States Government” but denied having ties to such a group on a security clearance application in 2022. [NBC]

Data Point

73 percent — the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit’s clearance rate in 2024, as of June. In practical terms, that means investigators have solved nearly three out of four homicide cases this year. The city’s typical clearance rate is about 50 percent. [The Baltimore Banner]

Non Sequitur

An off-topic item to brighten up your day. 

So You’re Underwater: Why Do You See That Circle of Light Above You?: “Mysteries of the deep! There’s some beautiful physics behind all this.” [WIRED]

Sunny Sone
Sunny is in charge of our newsletters, leading the growth of existing products and dreaming up new ones. They previously worked as a copy editor at The Intercept and as digital editor for the Texas Observer, and co-published a web-only magazine under the Brick House media cooperative. Sunny has covered topics ranging from the Texas funeral industry to the life of visionary composer Pauline Oliveros. They hold a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.