FRANKFORT, Ky. — It's a phrase heard often in the gun debate, "Red Flag Law" also known as "Extreme Risk Protective Orders." The plans would take guns from those considered at risk to themselves or others, 17 states already have them including Indiana. Many 2nd Amendment groups call it “confiscation." But Friday, that issue faced a packed hearing room at the Kentucky Capitol.
It was only an informational hearing, and a lot of that info was heart wrenching. Especially emotional was the testimony of a Louisville woman who described her brother's downward spiral that ended in the murder of their mother.
“She brought him into this world, and he took her out of it," explained a tearful Kirsten Russell.
Lawmaker also heard from the Louisville mother who survived the Fifth Third in Cincinnati, Whitney Austin.
"This fight, our movement, is not about blaming the gun or demonizing gun owners," explained Mrs. Austin, “it is about solutions that are bipartisan, reasonable and effective.”
They testified for a plan that's still being crafted. They say it's similar to an Indiana law that allows police or a close family member to file an Extreme Risk Protection Order, or "ERPO", claiming that someone is a danger to themselves or others.
In Indiana, if police find probable cause, it goes to a prosecutor who can take it to a judge who can require that person's firearms be taken away while the mental health crisis is addressed.
“You can call it an ERPO, you can call it a Red Flag Law, but you are knowingly violating, at a bare minimum, three Constitutional Rights," said Republican, Representative Savannah Maddox.
Representative Maddox sponsored a 2019 Kentucky bill that allowed gun owners carry a concealed weapon without a permit to do so.
While there were pointed questions and points on both sides such as whether low income citizens could get legal help to fight an accusation or whether minorities are more at risk of having their guns taken away, there were also signs of bipartisan interest in passing something.
An Indiana prosecutor vouched for this strategy.
“You can never know exactly what you prevent from happening," said Clark County Prosecutor, Jeremy Mull, “but I’m confident that we have saved a lot of lives in Indiana with this law and that our state is safer because of it.”
Whether this legislation gets a formal hearing, or a vote, when lawmakers return in January, is yet to be seen. But with GOP super-majorities in the House and Senate it will take bipartisanship and deal making to get beyond this informational stage.
RELATED | What are red flag gun laws?
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