{"id":21712,"date":"2020-03-04T13:34:11","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T20:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=63549"},"modified":"2020-03-04T13:34:11","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T20:34:11","slug":"snowmass-village-police-ask-for-red-flag-order-for-local-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/snowmass-village-police-ask-for-red-flag-order-for-local-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Snowmass Village police ask for red-flag order for local man"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
A Wichita police officer demonstrates how the gun lock works. Each Project Childsafe firearms safety kit includes the lock and educational materials.<\/strong>
Courtesy Project Childsafe<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Snowmass Village police became the first law enforcement agency on Colorado\u2019s Western Slope to invoke the state\u2019s new controversial red-flag law this week when the agency\u2019s police chief asked a judge to take away a local man\u2019s guns for a year.<\/p>\n

And while District Judge Chris Seldin did not grant the \u201cextreme risk protection order\u201d \u2014 the subject of the request is already on probation and cannot legally possess weapons \u2014 he didn\u2019t deny it, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe statute is concerned with emergency situations that could give rise to dangerous conditions involving the defendant,\u201d Seldin said Monday in Pitkin County District Court. \u201cThere\u2019s no information at this time that (the defendant) has weapons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe practical effect of moving forward today is zero.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the judge allowed a temporary extreme risk protection order regarding the man to remain in place until March 16, when he will appear in District Court again. The two-week delay will allow the man and his lawyer to talk about options moving forward and speak with Snowmass\u2019 lawyer about their conclusions, Seldin said.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s red flag law \u2014 which took effect Jan. 1 after being signed in April by Gov. Jared Polis \u2014 allows a member of law enforcement, a family member or a household resident to petition a judge to remove a person\u2019s guns if they are found to be a threat to themselves or others.<\/p>\n

Numerous Colorado counties declared themselves \u201cSecond Amendment sanctuaries\u201d in response to the law, feeling it violates the Constitution.<\/p>\n

The Aspen Times is not naming the Snowmass Village resident because he has not been charged with a crime in connection with the extreme risk protection order, which is a civil, not criminal, process.<\/p>\n

Police were spurred into action after receiving reports from the man\u2019s friends and family around Feb. 22 about concerning statements and behavior, said Snowmass Police Chief Brian Olson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were statements that led people to believe violence was possible or imminent,\u201d Olson told the Times on Tuesday. \u201cA behavior change was causing concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

At that time, family members said the man owned hunting weapons, including a rifle and shotgun, Olson said. Police received a search warrant for the man\u2019s home and car but found no weapons, he said.<\/p>\n

During the investigation, officers learned that a friend of the man was holding his guns while he was on probation. Officers contacted the friend, verified he had the weapons and asked him to drop them off at the police department, which he did, Olson said.<\/p>\n

When they asked for the red-flag order, Snowmass Village police were aware the man was on probation after pleading guilty to felony trespassing in connection with a 2018 domestic violence incident, Olson said. However, because the man received a deferred sentence \u2014 meaning the felony offense will be stricken from his record if he stays out of trouble until the beginning of August \u2014 he would again be allowed to possess weapons at that time because he would not longer be considered a convicted felon, he said.<\/p>\n

Essentially, police want the ability to keep tabs on the man\u2019s behavior without weapons for a full year. If all goes well, the guns can be given back. If not, police can ask for another year extension, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe town of Snowmass would like to have an order in place for a year to allow us to keep monitoring his behavior,\u201d Olson said Tuesday. \u201cThe red flag law creates a process for the community to protect itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of Tuesday, the man was in touch with police and stable, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis behavior is not what it was (Feb. 22),\u201d Olson said. \u201cRight now we\u2019re in a good place.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Wichita police officer demonstrates how the gun lock works. Each Project Childsafe firearms safety kit includes the lock and educational materials.Courtesy Project Childsafe Snowmass Village police became the first law enforcement agency on Colorado\u2019s Western Slope to invoke the state\u2019s new controversial red-flag law this week when the agency\u2019s police chief asked a judge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 23:36:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21712\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}