Colorado enacts 'red flag' law to seize guns from those deemed dangerous, prompting backlash

Colorado became the 15th state on Friday to adopt a “red flag” gun law, allowing firearms to be seized from people determined to pose a danger -- just weeks after dozens of county sheriffs had vowed not to enforce the law, with some local leaders establishing what they called Second Amendment "sanctuary counties."

The law didn't receive a single Republican vote in the state legislature, and has led to renewed efforts from gun-rights activists to recall Democrats who supported the measure. In a fiery and lengthy statement on Facebook on Friday, Eagle County, Colo., Sheriff James van Beek slammed the law as a well-intentioned but "ludicrous" throwback to the 2002 film "Minority Report," and outlined a slew of objections from law enforcement.

Van Beek charged that the law treats accused gun owners like "criminals," discourages individuals from seeking mental health treatment, and ignores the reality that "a disturbed mind will not be deterred by the removal of their guns."

Noting that cities with strict gun laws still experience high murder rates, van Beek asserted: "By removing guns from someone intent on committing suicide or murder, we still have the danger of someone who may be unbalanced, now, angrier than before, and looking for another means … explosives, poisons, knives, car incidents of mowing down groups of unsuspecting innocent."

Colorado’s law, approved by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, allows family, household members or law enforcement to petition a court to have guns seized or surrendered based on a showing that someone poses a danger under the "preponderance of the evidence," a civil standard which means that the defendant is more likely than not to be a threat.