You may be familiar with Indiana’s red flag law, which allows police officers to confiscate a person’s firearms if they believe the person poses an imminent risk of harm to themselves or others. Indiana’s specific red flag law is titled the Jack Laird Law.
Background of the Jack Laid Law
The law is named after an Indiana police officer who was killed in the line of duty. The law allows police to take firearms even when the person has not committed a crime if they are considered a danger to themselves or others.
Police officers must have a warrant before taking firearms under the red flag law. To obtain a warrant, they must show that they believe you have a firearm and are dangerous. They must show that they know the specific location of the firearm and document incidents with you or someone else that specifically demonstrate the risk of harm.
Your firearms can be taken under the red flag law without a warrant in certain circumstances. A police officer can take your firearms during a routine encounter if they believe you are a danger to yourself or others, but they must submit a statement to the court within 48 hours with the basis for taking your weapon.
There have been various debates about the red flag law since its enactment. Some believe the law is necessary to keep people safe and save lives, while others believe it potentially infringes on constitutional rights and is not enforced fairly by police officers.
Another negative consequence of the red flag law is that if your gun is taken under the red flag law, the record remains public even if the threat is later determined to not be credible. There is currently no way to expunge the record, meaning that it can haunt you for the rest of your life, depriving you of employment or other opportunities.
New bill allows sealed records in certain situations
Indiana lawmakers are aware of the issue and are taking steps to fix it. Recently, the Indiana House Courts and Criminal Code Committee unanimously passed a bill requiring courts to seal red flag law records if someone is determined not to be a threat at an initial hearing or who is found to be dangerous but later cleared.
After your firearms are seized under the red flag law, the court must hold a hearing within 14 days. You are given the opportunity to defend yourself at this hearing. The prosecutor must prove by clear and convincing evidence that you are a danger to yourself or others.
If they succeed, the court retains your firearms and you cannot petition to have them returned for 180 days. However, if you succeed at the initial hearing, your firearms are returned but you are stuck with a public record showing the red flag law violation.
According to a Second Amendment attorney, many accusations based on the red flag law are brought based on false information or sometimes simply to get revenge on someone. This highlights the importance of this proposed change to the law.