Over 400 red flag law orders issued in 2025, increase of about 100 from prior year

Of the 514 gun confiscation orders that were requested under Michigan’s red flag law in 2025, 407 were issued, about an 80% issuance rate, according to the annual report on Extreme Risk Protection Orders issued Monday by the State Court Administrative Office. 

That marks an increase from 2024, which saw 287 of the orders approved out of 391 requests made between Feb. 13, 2024, when the law went into effect, and the end of the year. 

Just over 91% of the 407 Extreme Risk Protection Orders were initially issued without notice, either as emergency or standard ex parte orders, which are granted prior to a hearing taking place when a risk of harm is deemed present. Another 86 requests for orders to be issued without notice were dismissed, denied or withdrawn, according to the report. 

“The red flag law is working,” said Dana Mohammad, the statewide coalitions director at Detroit Action, a member of the End Gun Violence Michigan coalition. “It is saving lives, particularly those of people in crisis who could have been lost to suicide. With this law, we are preventing tragedies rather than mourning them.”

19 protection orders were rescinded in 2025, including some which were issued in 2024. A press release from End Gun Violence Michigan celebrated, saying, “The small number of rescissions shows that most orders were well-founded — but when circumstances changed or new facts came to light, judges were willing to modify their decisions accordingly.”

As for criminal charges under the law, no petitioner in either 2024 or 2025 was charged with filing a false report for an Extreme Risk Protection Order, nor was anyone charged in either year with knowingly placing a firearm in the possession of someone under such an order. Three individuals in 2025 were charged with refusing or failing to comply with a protection order, one of which was dismissed under a no-contest plea and two of which are pending in circuit court. 

The red flag law has been lauded as a success by law enforcement and suicide prevention advocates, including April Zeoli, an associate professor of public health and a director at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention at the University of Michigan.

“79% of gun owners said this is a good law. 89% of non gun owners said this is a good law. You can look at NRA members, non-NRA members,” she said at a suicide prevention summit in January. “You can break this down however you want, race, gender. A large majority, and when I say large, I mean over 70% of each group, finds that they support these laws.”

The law has also been criticized by Republicans in Lansing as an infringement on Second Amendment rights of gun owners, as well as due process rights in granting the orders without an initial hearing. 

State Rep. James DeSana (R-Carleton) has introduced a package of bills to repeal the Extreme Risk Protection Order law, though they have a near-zero chance of passage through the Democratic-controlled Michigan Senate, much less past Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who signed the original legislation in 2023, even if they do pass through the GOP-controlled House.