Why Would Someone Need an ERPO? You can ask the court for help to take away guns from someone you think may hurt themselves or others. The police, district attorney, or school can also ask the court for this help. This is called an Extreme Risk Protection Order, also called ERPO for short.

Request an ERPO: For more information on ERPOs in New York, and how to ask for one, please visit this site. ERPO forms and instructions can be found here.

Note: you do not need a lawyer to request an ERPO. You can ask for a fee waiver if you don’t have funds to file an ERPO.

What is an ERPO: On August 24th, 2019, New York State’s Extreme Risk Protection Order legislation went into effect. The goal of the legislation is to prevent gun violence by providing a civil legal mechanism to temporarily restrict access to firearms for those who pose a serious risk of harm to themselves or others.

The ERPO legislation (S2451/A2689) creates a new type of court-issued order of protection that temporarily prohibits individuals from purchasing or possessing guns if a family or household member, District Attorney, law enforcement officer, or school administrator petitions a court and the court finds that an individual is likely to engage in conduct that would harm themselves or others.

Sometimes, you will hear this referred to as New York’s ‘Red Flag’ law.

ERPO legislation was passed in 2019 by NY State Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon and Senator Brian Kavanagh.