Extreme Risk Protection Orders and Church Crisis Support

Clergy and lay leaders are often trusted first responders when someone in their community is experiencing a crisis and may be among the first to hear concerns about a person at risk of harming themselves or others. In the United States, a country with more firearms than citizens, community crises often involve firearms. An Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO), also known as a “red flag” law, is a civil court order that temporarily restricts an individual's access to firearms when they are behaving dangerously or pose a high risk of harm to themselves or others. By authorizing the temporary removal of firearms and prohibiting the individual subject to the order from purchasing, possessing, or accessing firearms while the order is in effect, ERPOs provide a critical opportunity to intervene and prevent firearm violence, including suicide, domestic violence, and mass violence. In other words, they are one tool we have for caring for one another in times of need and crisis.

So what are ERPOs? How do they work? What role can clergy and churches play in the legal process to help support congregants and community members who are at risk of violence? These are the questions this guide answers. It was developed by the PC(USA), its national partners on the Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence advocacy coalition, and especially the researchers and policy experts at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.