Orange County Sheriff John Mina renewed his calls Wednesday for politicians to close a loophole in Florida’s Risk Protection law, commonly known as the “red flag” law, that he said could put families and communities in danger.
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The law was enacted in the wake of the Parkland shooting, when a 19-year-old killed 14 classmates and three adults at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. It became known that 911 was called on the teenager dozens of times and the FBI was tipped off twice, but no one intervened to seize the shooter’s guns to prevent the shooting.
The law allows certain people, including law enforcement, to petition a court to temporarily seize someone’s guns when they’re ruled to be a threat to themselves or others. It’s considered a vital law enforcement tool and has been used thousands of times in six years.
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Mina said the law doesn’t punish someone who disagrees with an order, such as a family member, from giving the person that has been flagged another weapon.