FITCHBURG – Today, Governor Tony Evers, Attorney General Josh Kaul, and several legislative Democrats united in support of legislation introduced by Representative Melissa Sargent (D-Madison) to create Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) in the state of Wisconsin. An ERPO enables law enforcement officers and members of a person’s family or household to petition a court to temporarily restrict the person’s access to firearms in a situation where they pose a danger to themselves or others. Representative Jimmy Anderson released the following statement about the proposal:
“We are long overdue for common-sense measures like Extreme Risk Protection Orders. It is clear from the rising number of mass shootings and firearm suicides throughout the U.S. that lawmakers are failing to protect the people we represent. In fact, in 2019 alone, we have lost more than 10,000 lives to gun violence and experienced more than 300 mass shootings as a country.
“Inaction is unacceptable. ERPO legislation is a necessary first step towards preventing the loss of more lives to the gun violence that so many of our communities have grown numb to. I look forward to joining my fellow Democrats in supporting common-sense legislation to protect Wisconsin families from gun violence, and I call on my Republican colleagues to do the same. We have a duty to make Wisconsin a safer place to live.”
