So far this year, two states, Michigan and Minnesota, have enacted extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs). They became the first states to enact new ERPOs since New Mexico and Virginia did so in 2020. The new laws in Michigan and Minnesota raise the total number of states with ERPOs to 21. ERPOs are also commonly referred to as red flag laws.
Interest in red flag laws expanded after the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Five states had extreme risk protection order laws before 2018, while in 2018 alone eight additional states adopted some form of the law. Six more states joined those with ERPOs between 2019 and 2020.
Of the 21 states with red flag laws, 13 had Democratic trifectas when the law was enacted, including Michigan and Minnesota. One state, Florida, had a Republican trifecta at the time, and the remaining seven states had divided government.
