Colorado just used its gun seizure law for the first time — one day after it took effect

One day after Colorado’s new firearm seizure law took effect, authorities in the state appear to have used it for the first time. Denver police invoked the state’s “red flag” law in a petition made public this week, seeking a judge’s approval to let them keep guns they confiscated from a man who allegedly beat his wife and made suicidal statements to investigators. The law took effect Jan. 1, adding Colorado to a growing list of states with legislation allowing authorities to seize firearms from people deemed to be at risk of harming themselves or others. A day later, a sergeant from the Denver Police Department’s domestic violence unit filed the petition in city probate court. A court spokesman told The Washington Post he believed it was the first petition submitted under the legislation. The swift application of the new statute in Colorado reflects a growing public awareness of “red flag” laws, which have proliferated across the country in the roughly two years since a gunman killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Fla...MORE