The NRA is feeling the heat from the uprising of teen activists and groups like Moms Demand Action. In a newly released video, NRA spokesman Chris Cox expresses support for “risk protection orders.” Also known as “red flag” laws, they help get guns out of the hands of people at risk to the community or themselves. A brief explainer from CNN:
Such laws -- variously known as extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs), gun violence restraining orders and red-flag laws -- are in effect in Connecticut (enacted in 1999), Indiana (2005), California (2014), Washington (2016), and Oregon (2017). The laws differ state to state, but they generally allow specific people -- law enforcement officers and, in some states, relatives of the person in question -- to ask a judge to temporarily prohibit someone from having or buying firearms. This would be based not primarily on criminal history or mental health disqualifications already enshrined in law, but rather over allegations that the person is likely to harm themselves or others.After combatting these types of laws for years, here is NRA spokesman Chris Cox advocating for extreme-risk protection laws (which you can read more about below). Folks, this is a big deal and the NRA should be applauded for shifting in the direction of reform, however slight the shift might be.