In 2016, Washington voters passed Initiative 1491, the Extreme Risk Protection Order Law. An extreme risk protection order (ERPO) allows law enforcement to remove access to a firearm for someone who is exhibiting a behavioral health crisis and can be shown to be at risk of harming themselves or others. A law enforcement agency can petition a court for an ERPO, as can an intimate partner, family member, or household member of a respondent.
According to a recent news story by FOX 13 Seattle, in the first half of 2023 there were about 50 extreme risk protection orders granted by courts in King County.
Male deaths by firearm
Among the 800 or so annual gun deaths in Washington each year, around 600 are suicides, according to the Alliance for Gun Responsibility. With three-quarters of completed suicides in Washington being males, and males being more likely than females to use a firearm when attempting suicide, most of the 600 annual suicides involving a gun are male youth and men.
The citizen sponsor of I-1491 that created the ERPO law was Marilyn Balcerak. Her son — who had autism and struggled with depression — killed his stepsister and then himself in 2015.
Testimony from firearms prosecutor Kim Wyatt
In 2019, the United States Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on ‘Red Flag Laws’, as they are known. One of the testifiers, Kim Wyatt, is a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in the King County Prosecutor’s Office. She handles ERPOs in the Regional Domestic Violence Firearms Enforcement Unit. In her testimony, Ms. Wyatt shared with the U.S. senators this anecdote about an extreme risk protection order:
“In one case, a woman filed an extreme risk protection order against her boyfriend because he recently tried to commit suicide and wanted to purchase a firearm. At the protection order hearing the couple came in together, holding hands. The respondent had no objection to the extreme risk protection order. He expressed gratitude that someone cared enough to make sure that he did not have access to a gun while he was in a crisis.”
We have not found any additional information about that particular case, but we are indeed moved by that story.
See also: A Look At Washington’s Suicide Gender Gap from 1960 to 2020