Stop me, wrote the Minnesota shooter. Could the law on the red flag of the state have intervened?

ahsan65@gmail.comSeptember 5, 2025

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Stop me, wrote the Minnesota shooter. Could the law on the red flag of the state have intervened?

Skipped in a notebook, the 23 -year -old made a frightening observation: “If I did something, they would say that it was obvious with hindsight.”

Last week, the resident of Minneapolis went to the Annunciation church, where the students of the school of the church gathered for mass on the first day of lessons after the summer holidays, and pulled through narrow windows in stained glass. Two children died and 21 children and adults were injured, some in a critical way.

Minnesota is the last of the 21 states to adopt laws that allow citizens and police to request the emergency withdrawal of a person from a person showing signs of crisis, or people considered a threat to others. Minnesota legislation was promulgated in May 2023.

Why we wrote this

The laws on red flags are designed to stop the potential armed violence by people considered a threat to themselves or for others. The intentions of the Minnesota shooter were not known until it was too late, which led some to the lamentation of the missed indices.

Police said that an emergency risk protection order has not been requested for the suspect, and this person had no criminal record. Shortly before the attack, the shooter posted on social networks a newspaper and a manifesto which indicated hatred and the potential of violence.

The concern choir after the shooting not only recalls that the Americans are not helpless in the face of omnipresent armed violence, but also that the laws on red flags are only effective when people are expressed. For many here, there is a feeling that there may have been missed clues that could have been used to disarm the person under the new law. The investigation is underway.

“A crisis was sufficient to push them on the edge,” explains Chris Carita, a former police officer and 97%main trainer, a non -profit organization that helps the police to use what is commonly called red flags. “They did not get the help they needed or the intervention they needed.”

People left support messages on the Filming site of the Annunciation church in Minneapolis on August 30, 2025.

The philosophical nucleus of laws is that they show not only the concern of public security, but also empathy for people in distress which can leave clues of potential deadly intention.

“It is an individual tool that people and families can use, but the greater and more difficult task is to ensure that people understand it and know how to use it,” explains Emma Greenman, representative of the state of Minnesota.

Uncertainty about how to use the law

Originally from Connecticut, laws on red flags have been adopted in several states such as Minnesota – generally liberal, but with a strong tradition of firearms in rural areas. Two conservative states – Florida and Indiana – have also adopted such laws.

For around 20 orders of this type, a person’s life is saved, estimates a study of suicides in which a weapon has been used. Another study revealed that the California red flag law has probably stopped dozens of mass fire.

In some cases, potential shooters drop clues to their intention because they are, in fact, wishing that someone stops them, explains Mr. Carita. Conversely, not to face someone who drops clues can be considered a “moral forgiveness” that helps create permission, he adds.

In an example, the Minnesota shooter wrote: “I have been showing signs for some time, I have to be stopped!”

However, laws can be confusing because they have ethical dilemmas.

“Many people do not know what to look for, and even if they notice something, they do not know what to do on this subject,” explains Rob Doar, vice-president of the caucus of the firearms of Minnesota.

In most of the laws of the States, the process takes place before the civil court, where a person may explain why he should be authorized to keep his guns. But as such measures could reveal evidence of other violations of the law on firearms, a petition has a chance to land a person in criminal difficulty before any other crime is committed.

This is why, in most states, the police are launching most of the red flag petitions. Minnesota police quickly intensified the use of the law in the past six months. There were 11 petitions deposited in 2024 in St. Paul, Minnesota, for example, against 20 until now in 2025.

Representative Emma Greenman, who represents the district that houses the Annunciation church, speaks that she joins activists and other politicians to call for a prohibition on assault weapons during a press conference at the town hall of Minneapolis, on August 28, 2025.

“I have heard of family members worried about the consequences of their relationship if they take this extraordinary measure, but what they can do is simply calling the police,” said Ramsey County Minnesota, lawyer John Choi. “Usually when someone does that, it’s out of love.”

The minnesota representative, Ethan Cha, became one of the first citizens to engage the law when a parent began to show signs of an increasing crisis, resulting in the withdrawal of their weapons.

In other cases, the law has been used when someone is identified as a potential public threat. In Eden Prairie, Minnesota, it was used to remove the weapons from a man who threatened with police officers. It was also used last year to disarm a man who had been seen walking in the street with a firearm, having hallucinations.

SOURCE:

American Academy of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University Center for Gun Violence Solutions

Jacob Turcotte / Staff

“People could use [it] against you “

However, most of the 87 counties in Minnesota have not yet used the law. In Rural Red Wing, Minnesota, few people approached by the instructor were aware of it, including several people attending a weekly demonstration.

Taking a sign “We need control of firearms”, Debbie House, a resident of Red Wing, says that she did not know that citizens could petition courts for the withdrawal of firearms. Ms. House says she thinks it could have helped her nephew, who threatened to commit suicide for weeks before taking a firearm in the woods and ending her life.

Patrik Jonsson / The Christian Science Monitor

Lavoie and Debbie House have signs condemning armed violence and hate a “No Kings” demonstration in Red Wing, Minnesota, August 29, 2025.

Donovan Strom, resident of Red Wing, says that he understands why people and the police can hesitate to use the law, especially in a fairly conservative pro-Gun rural area. “It could be a tool that people could use against you if they don’t like you,” said Strom.

Activists of firearms are suitable, arguing that the laws on red flags are ripe for exploitation.

“The law was sold as a tool for families to help loved ones in crisis, but when you dig into data, it is generally the application of the law that uses it in situations that would otherwise need a mandate,” explains Mr. Doar.

Minnesotans and Greenman representative do not think that the laws on red flags are enough. Governor Tim Walz promised to call the legislative assembly in a special session to consider prohibiting the type of military quality rifle used in the Church of the Annunciation Assault.

But as such, the measures are faced with political obstacles, the laws on red flags continue to evolve. Illinois is in the middle of a display campaign to raise awareness of the use of the law. In Maryland, half of all petitions are now signed by civilians rather than the police.