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Senate advances bill expanding who can seek extreme-risk orders after heated debate over due process and institutional filings
Summary
After hours of debate and multiple failed and adopted amendments, the Colorado Senate voted to advance Senate Bill 4 — which would allow institutions such as schools, health facilities and certain co-responders to file extreme risk protection order petitions — to third reading. Supporters said the change would save lives; opponents warned of constitutional and privacy risks.
Senators on Feb. 2 advanced Senate Bill 4 on second reading after extended debate over whether to let institutions petition courts for extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs). The measure, sponsored by Senator Suzanne Sullivan (Senator Sullivan), would expand who may initiate temporary ERPOs to include institutional petitioners such as schools and certain health and behavioral-health institutions. The Senate adopted several technical amendments but rejected multiple proposed safeguards meant to limit institutional anonymity, restrict petitioning timeframes, or bar certain petitioners.
The sponsor described the measure as a narrow, life-saving adjustment to an existing law. "We continue to save lives as this state struggles with the public health crisis that is gun violence," Senator Sullivan said, citing testimony from…
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