UC Berkeley Public Health: Extreme risk protection order law reduce firearm suicides

In 2023, more than half of all suicide deaths in the United States involved firearms. “Red flag” laws—also called Extreme Risk Protection Orders or ERPOs—are designed to reduce these deaths by authorizing temporary firearm removal from individuals deemed at high risk of harming themselves or others.

However, a new analysis led by UC Berkeley School of Public Health Research Professor of Health Policy and Management Timothy T. Brown, published today in JAMA Health Forum, shows that the passage of ERPO laws does reduce suicides by gun.

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