Illinois’ Red Flag Law Could Have Stopped Shooting, But It’s ‘Ineffective’ and Doesn’t Work as Well as Florida’s

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “AC360,” Senator Chris Murphy (Democratic Senator) stated that Illinois’ red flag law was “ineffective” and “certainly there was enough information” about the Highland Park shooter” to cause Court to force law enforcement to enter and withdraw their weapons.” Murphy also stated that the gun law recently passed by the Senate would give incentives for states to adopt laws that “now work in states like Florida, and work less well, it seems, in states like Illinois.”

Murphy said, “I think what we do know is that Illinois has a red flag law on the books. But it’s a law that isn’t used very often. In fact, from what I understand, one county accounts for about 60-70% of all red flag laws passed in the state.” That means it’s an ineffective program. The bill we just passed through Congress a week and a half ago commits nearly a billion dollars to help states like Illinois teach law enforcement, and first responders how to make good use of the red flag law. And you have to wonder, if everyone is He knows how to use the Illinois red flag law, would they have used it in this case? Because it certainly seems that there was enough information about this young man to force the court to cause law enforcement to enter and to take out his weapons. There are other provisions in the bill that might have an effect here. But a well-enforced red flag law certainly could have done the trick here.”