From N.Y. State Police v. K.L., decided by Ulster County (N.Y.) trial court judge Julian Schreibman on Dec. 12:
Often referred to as the "Red Flag Law," Article 63-A created ERPOs [Extreme Risk Protection Orders]. Although an ERPO is a "Protection Order," it does not limit where the subject can go or with whom he or she can associate. Rather, an ERPO does one thing: it prohibits the subject from possessing or acquiring firearms for up to one year.
Significantly, the Red Flag Law is not addressed only to criminal gun violence but also encompasses the goal of reducing suicide by firearm…. "The Red Flag Law seeks to keep guns out of the hands of persons who may be suffering from acute emotional trauma or a mental health crisis and are at risk of harming themselves or others." …
The enactment of the Red Flag law was not met with a flood of petitions. However, on May 14, 2022, a racially motivated mass shooting in Buffalo left ten Black New Yorkers dead. In the wake of this massacre, on May 18, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul issued an Executive Order titled, "Directing the State Police to File Extreme Risk Protection Orders" (the "Executive Order")….. [S]ince the Executive Order, there has been a sharp increase in the filing of TERPO [Temporary Extreme Risk Protection Order] applications, with a significant portion of these directed at at-risk persons including troubled children, senior citizens, persons with serious chronic illnesses, and individuals processing trauma through acts of non-suicidal self-harm such as "cutting."
Since the Executive Order was issued, more than 17,000 New Yorkers have been found by a court to be likely to seriously harm themselves or others. In this County, it has been the Court's experience that, in the majority of cases, the respondent does not possess any firearm, and has no intention of doing so, so that even when the TERPO or ERPO is granted, no firearms are confiscated and neither the respondent nor the public are made any safer. Instead, the aggressive pursuit of ERPOs simply raises the prospect of further traumatizing the respondent. This is such a case….
