美国国家公共电台 NPR Poll: Americans, Including Republicans And Gun Owners, Broadly Support Red Flag Laws（在线收听）

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

President Trump seems to be backing off statements supporting gun control, including laws that would make it easier to take firearms away from people who might hurt themselves or others. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have laws that make it possible to petition a judge to get what's called an Extreme Risk Protection Order. These are also known as red flag laws. And a newly published survey from the American Public Media Research Lab finds strong majorities of Americans from across the political spectrum support these laws.

Joining us now is Leigh Paterson from the Guns & America reporting project. She is based at member station KUNC in Northern Colorado. Hi, Leigh.

LEIGH PATERSON, BYLINE: Good morning.

GREENE: So I want to be careful here to clarify something. This polling was done before the mass shootings in El Paso and in Dayton, Ohio, right?

PATERSON: Yes, exactly.

GREENE: Well, tell us what you found here. What stands out?

PATERSON: Well, so before I just give you a bunch of numbers, the survey basically says that there's a lot of support for these laws. Seventy-seven percent of Americans support family-initiated Extreme Risk Protection Orders - sorry 77%. And 70% support these orders when they're initiated by law enforcement.

Polling shows support is strong among Democrats, Republicans, independents, though it's highest among Democrats, and it's fairly high among gun owners, too. Sixty-seven percent support orders initiated by family, and 60% support them when they are initiated by police.

GREENE: Well, I know we have some tape that you collected from people you spoke to trying to understand the meaning of these numbers, and I want our listeners to hear it. This is Cassandra Crifasi of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research.

CASSANDRA CRIFASI: It's not focused on all gun owners; it's focused on gun owners who are exhibiting risky behaviors. That - I think we can reasonably agree, someone who's posting online about committing a mass shooting or someone who is sharing with a family member or friend that they're thinking about harming themselves, that's someone that we would want to separate from firearms.

GREENE: What does that tell us about the polling that you're seeing here?

PATERSON: Well, Crifasi - and just to add to what she just said - she pointed to the temporary component of these laws. And that's important because it means that once that temporary order expires, the subject of the order, the one who had to give up their guns, is able to go and ask for them back.

I also talked with Amy Swearer from the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation. She talks about these orders as kind of like an intermediate measure, meaning they can provide a way to intervene before someone has committed a crime or before they've gotten on the radar of mental health care professionals but who maybe are already showing signs of dangerousness, as she puts it.

GREENE: Well, I know we have some tape of Amy Swearer from the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation...

PATERSON: Yeah.

GREENE: ...Also talking about why there is still, you know, notable opposition to ideas like this. Here's what she said.

AMY SWEARER: There are legitimate, I think, underlying fears. If these laws are not properly narrowed, that if they're not using specific enough language, that if they're not being couched in appropriate measures of due process, that it can open the door for a lot of abuse.

GREENE: And is that where the opposition comes from, the idea that a law like this could open the door for more?

PATERSON: Yeah, yeah. It's - some of it. So some people believe these laws violate the Second Amendment because they limit access to guns. Others have concerns about due process. Here in Colorado, there's this whole movement of sheriffs who say they won't enforce the Colorado law once it takes effect because of the issues I've just outlined, because of that malicious intent idea and also because the law just simply doesn't have the mental health care component.

GREENE: Leigh Paterson comes to us from Guns & America, a public media reporting project focused on the role of guns in American life. Leigh, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

PATERSON: You're welcome.

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