This is the Emergency Substantial Risk Order or Red Flag Law that has
passed thru the Senate with amendments & has been read once in the
House & was sent to the Comittee on Public Safety on 2-13-2020.

Here is a summary of where I think it is & what it could allow & how it
can be very bad for us....

(Wording in the bill)
....Upon the petition of either an attorney for the Commonwealth or two a law-enforcement officers
[ supported by an affidavit of supporting facts ] , [ after consulting with the attorney for the Commonwealth, ]
a judge of a circuit court, general district court, or juvenile and domestic relations district court or a magistrate, ....

Is any Commonwealth attorney now able to start a petition for a person in any county or just
their own county? What about the 2 LEOs?

(Wording in the bill)
False statement to law-enforcement officer, etc.; penalty.

Any person who knowingly and willfully makes any materially false statement or representation to a
law-enforcement officer or attorney for the Commonwealth who is in the course of conducting an investigation
undertaken pursuant to this chapter is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Is this in reference to the subject or the accuser, or both? At the very least, there
needs to be a section in here that requires life sentences for false accusers & crooked Commonwealth
attorneys.

(Wording in the bill)
Immunity of law-enforcement officers, etc.; chapter not exclusive.

A. An attorney for the Commonwealth or a law-enforcement officer shall be immune from civil liability for
any act or omission related to petitioning or declining to petition for a substantial risk order pursuant to this chapter.

Well, that sucks as far as holding the CA & LEO accountable for false petitions.

It seems that they can decline to petition, and if anything bad happens after they declined to petition,
then nothing will happen to them. I guess it depends on how much they want to JBT on that day.

(Wording in the bill)
No liability shall be imposed upon any law-enforcement official who disseminates information or fails to
disseminate information in good faith compliance with the requirements of this section, but this provision
shall not be construed to grant immunity for gross negligence or willful misconduct.

After spending a ton of money & time to prove that crooked JBTs were negligent, they get a slap
on the wrist.

I don't know what our chances are of stopping it in the House. We need to hit this one just as
hard as we are hitting the preemption bill. If I am correct, it only needs 2 more readings after
getting out of the Safety Committee?

Edited: I struck out the changes they made to the language when it was in the Safety Committee...
Now it is just one LEO required if going thru the LEO route, and they removed the need for an
affidavit & consulting with a CA

In the house?

zero.

The house is completely radicalized.

None. They voted 961 through.

From what I have read, the bill is a bit better than it was when first proposed. It now allows the petition to go forward only if sworn to by two LEOs or by the Commonwealth Attorney him/her self. As originally proposed, just about anybody could file a complaint with the court and have the order issued on their say alone. That's the way it is in Maryland.
The things that really disturb me the most about these bills is that (1) They don't address the manner in which the seized firearms are held and stored, and the law enforcement agencies holding the weapons cannot be held liable for any damaged or missing firearms. and (2) The law enforcement agencies holding the weapons are not required to immediately return the firearms to the owner if the order is overturned or when it expires.

I wrote every delegate, except for a couple that would just be a waste of time.

I really wish we'd hit these Senate bills that are up for committee vote as hard as we hit HB 961.

Bumping to show the changes made to it today 2-21-2020

Anyone know the current status of this bill

No movement posted to the website

..... https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB240 ........

as of 3:48 p.m. today; maybe later this afternoon it will update.