美国国家公共电台 NPR--Colorado enacted a red flag law 3 years ago. One family says it prevented a tragedy

Colorado enacted¹ a red flag law 3 years ago. One family says it prevented a tragedy

Transcript²

A Colorado family is sure tragedy was averted³ when the state's red flag law helped remove guns from a person they suspected of being dangerous. Critics say such laws violate the Second Amendment⁴.

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

A proposed law in Michigan to keep guns away from dangerous people is gaining attention again this week after the mass shooting at Michigan State University. Three years ago, Colorado enacted a red flag law. Enforcement is spotty. But one family says it prevented a tragedy. Colorado Public Radio's Andrew Kenney reports.

ANDREW KENNEY, BYLINE⁵: John Boulware's the antique shop in Denver is crowded with early American history from Revolutionary War drums...

JOHN BOULWARE: Ready for somebody to restring it and enjoy it.

KENNEY: ...To 18th century American tea kettles.

J BOULWARE: And they're very hard to find because it was cheaper to import them from England and Scandinavia.

KENNEY: John's built a reputation in Denver for more than 40 years. His late brother, Richard, was also a prominent figure in the city as a photographer and an airport executive. Richard was the eldest⁶ of four brothers. And John was the youngest.

J BOULWARE: I'm the baby of the family.

KENNEY: But over the years, the two men became estranged⁷.

J BOULWARE: In fact, we didn't talk for 15 years. He was getting older and was very hard to deal with.

KENNEY: As Richard reached his 80s, John started to hear disturbing things. Richard was stockpiling guns and food. He feared mob rule.

J BOULWARE: He was a doomsday prepper.

KENNEY: John saw the situation firsthand after Richard got injured and John started helping⁸ him get around.

J BOULWARE: Things weren't normal, at least what I call normal.

KENNEY: At Richard's townhome, John found a night vision scope aimed at the door, some 5,000 rounds of heavy-duty ammunition⁹ and rifles and pistols all around the place. Richard pointed¹⁰ a loaded pistol at John as he tried to show it off.

J BOULWARE: I said, don't aim that thing at me when you're trying to get a round out of it.

KENNEY: The family grew concerned that Richard was delusional¹¹ and that he could shoot a delivery person.

J BOULWARE: Or me or anybody else.

KENNEY: Richard's brothers were able to force him into a mental health facility. John took the guns to his place. But when Richard got out, he told the cops the weapons had been stolen.

J BOULWARE: He charged me, called them up and charged me with felony theft.

KENNEY: A recording¹² of Richard surrendering the guns was enough to prove John's innocence¹³. But the cops went further to ensure Richard couldn't rearm himself. They brought in Colorado's three-year-old red flag law, which allows judges to ban people from having guns if they're deemed a danger to themselves or others. Denver police division chief Joe Montoya.

JOE MONTOYA: When the legislation was passed, the department's decision was to fully¹⁴ embrace it.

KENNEY: We reviewed more than 300 red flag cases across Colorado and found that Denver has filed far more than any other agency in the state, about 90 over the law's first three years in existence. Montoya says the department's dedicated¹⁵ red flag team gives them a new option to deal with dangerous situations that could otherwise go unaddressed.

MONTOYA: Sometimes you just had that little nervous feeling in your stomach that this could end up bad down the road. We're going to be reading about this person, you know? And now knowing that at least you have the ability to take some sort of action that could hopefully prevent something from happening, I think it's a good thing.

KENNEY: In the Boulwares' case, a detective filed a detailed¹⁶ petition in court. Richard was appointed an attorney to represent him while the city built its case. Soon, a judge held a hearing and banned Richard from possessing or buying guns for a year. Another brother, Tad Boulware, attended by phone.

TAD BOULWARE: Relief, total relief, could not have been happier.

KENNEY: Just a couple of months later, last February, Richard Boulware died of natural causes, alone but unarmed. After everything that happened, John and Tad still honor him as their eldest brother.

For NPR News, I'm Andrew Kenney.

(SOUNDBITE OF LYMBYC SYSTYM'S "1000 ARMS")

1 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

4 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

7 estranged   

adj.疏远的，分离的

参考例句：

• He became estranged from his family after the argument.那场争吵后他便与家人疏远了。
• The argument estranged him from his brother.争吵使他同他的兄弟之间的关系疏远了。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 delusional   

妄想的

参考例句：

• You became delusional and attacked several people trying to escape. 你产生了错觉并攻击了许多人还试图逃走。 来自电影对白
• He is incoherent, delusional, suffering auditory hallucinations. 他出现无逻辑的，妄想的，幻听的症状。 来自电影对白

12 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

13 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

14 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

15 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

16 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。