Citation
The content featured in this video is based on the following publication:
Zeoli, A., Paruk, J., Brana, C.C., Carter, P.M., Cunningham, R., Heinze, J. & Webster, D.W. (2021). Use of extreme risk protection orders to reduce gun violence in Oregon. Criminology & Public Policy 20(2), 243-261. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12544
Transcript
Dr. Justin Heinze: At the National Center for School Safety, we serve as the BJA STOP School Violence National TTA Provider and work with schools and stakeholders around the country to implement evidence-based strategies and other best practices to help make schools safer. Anonymous or confidential reporting systems evolved in the aftermath of high profile and horrific school shootings. But the growing implementation of reporting technologies across the country revealed something that many school and safety experts have known for decades: that mass shootings are the tip of the iceberg in terms of the total injury burden in schools. Interpersonal, intimate partner, and self-directed violence among students is far more frequent; and providing students, staff and parents with a method to identify an individual who is a threat to themselves or others is a valuable tool in the school safety toolkit. In this video, we discuss some findings related to extreme risk protection orders and how they may help protect schools through reporting.
Dr. April Zeoli: My name is April Zeoli, and I’m an Associate Professor at the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. A little over a year ago, an old friend of mine died by firearm suicide. He was a legal and responsible gun owner, and he was going through a hard time. I wondered if my state, Michigan, had enacted an extreme risk protection order law, which allows for temporarily prohibiting an individual at high or imminent risk of harming themselves or others from purchasing or possessing a gun, would my friend still be alive?
We don’t yet know much about how Extreme Risk Protection Orders are being used. We decided to investigate how they’re being used in Oregon, which recently passed an extreme risk protection order law. We wanted to know the reasons people were petitioning for ERPOs. Is it mainly for suicide risk? Is it for risk of harm to others? What type of harm and risk? What behaviors have led the petitioner believing an ERPO is appropriate in this situation?
The first is that ERPOs are being used to prevent school shootings. We found 6 petitions in which the high-risk individual was reported to have threatened to commit a school or university shooting (3 were for K-12 schools), or had otherwise caused law enforcement to be concerned about school safety. The second thing we learned was that these were all people over the age of 18 that made threats against K-12 schools, who therefore would not be known to staff at the school as risky and in need of monitoring or intervention. They were of age in Oregon to purchase a gun, or they already had a gun. The third thing we learned was that the ERPOs were granted in these cases, making the high-risk individual unable to legally access guns. This quite possibly saved lives. Many of the high-risk individuals needed help. The ERPO, and removal of gun access, may keep them from taking a terrible step that can’t be undone. It is a lifesaving tool. And it is especially useful because it is through the civil justice system, so people do not have a criminal record due to being placed under ERPO.
Next steps are to start looking at whether places that have ERPO laws actually see an associated decrease in harm to self or others with a firearm. In other words, do they work?
Extreme risk protection orders were initially intended for those who can legally have a gun, and minors often (though not always) are unable to have a gun. However, they may have access to a gun in their homes. I would urge parents to ensure that their guns and ammunition are stored in a way that minors are completely unable to access them.
Dr. Heinze: Although Extreme Risk Protection Orders are a relatively new form of reporting technology and may not be available in every state, the findings Dr. Zeoli reported suggests that ERPOs may have implications for gun violence prevention in schools. Understanding how such policies can affect school safety will be important as more states adopt similar approaches.