Last weekend’s killings of eight children and wounding of two women in Shreveport, L.A., has focused attention on the fact that Louisiana legislators have defeated ERPO laws multiple times. The shootings are believed to be an act of domestic violence; seven of the children were the killer’s, and the two women are described as his wife and his girlfriend, respectively.
The killer was allegedly using a stolen assault-style weapon, and had a 2019 conviction for illegal use of a firearm.
Last week, The Trace published an article on how GOP-led states are outlawing the orders meant to quickly—and temporarily—take guns from people at imminent risk of hurting themselves or others. Advocates say the trend could undermine a tool widely credited with preventing suicides, which make up the majority of U.S. gun deaths.
“We’re very concerned about the trajectory of anti-ERPO laws, both in the rise in the number of states passing these laws and the escalations within the laws themselves,” said Emily Walsh, a law and policy adviser at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.