A recent webinar attended by Vermont’s Attorney General explained the differences between the state’s Extreme Risk Protection Orders and Relief from Abuse Orders.
Everytown for Gun Safety and the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence hosted the session aimed at explaining the differences between the two legal tools that are used to protect people from gun violence.
Everytown Northeast Director of Government Affairs Kendall Jacobson said the goal of the session was to make sure people are aware of available gun violence protection tools.
“Vermont's Extreme Risk law, created in 2018, allows loved ones or law enforcement to intervene by petitioning a court for an order to temporarily prevent someone in crisis from accessing guns,” explained Jacobson. “Vermont legislators expanded that law last year to allow family members and household members to directly petition courts themselves. In situations where there's relationship violence or violence at household, Vermonters can also seek Relief from Abuse protective orders from the court. This is a really important form of protection for victims and survivors of violence, especially those who are seeking protection but reticent to report to law enforcement.”
Democratic state Attorney General Charity Clark opened the session noting that the Extreme Risk Protection and Relief from Abuse orders are critical legal tools for frontline workers trying to prevent domestic and sexual violence.
“The very unfortunate reality is that our justice system in Vermont, more often than it should, fails particularly victims of domestic violence,” said Clark. “And I want to share a story early on in my tenure as a part of the leadership team at the Attorney General's office. There was a case in which a woman was killed by her abuser with a firearm. And it was after she failed to appear at a Relief from Abuse Order hearing. And it was haunting and I knew that I wanted to make the issue of domestic and sexual violence a focus.”
Everytown for Gun Safety Senior Director of Implementation Chelsea Parsons explained Vermont’s Extreme Risk Protection Orders, sometimes called Red Flag laws, when they can be used and who can file a petition to use them.
“Extreme risk laws create a civil legal process through which law enforcement and family members can petition a court to temporarily restrict a person's access to firearms if there's evidence that they pose a risk of harm to themself or to others,” Parsons said. “When a person is in crisis and is considering harming themselves or someone else they often exhibit clear warning signs. So, these laws are intended to provide a mechanism to act when there are these warning signs rather than waiting for a tragedy to occur.”
Extreme Risk Protection Orders only address access to firearms. Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence Deputy Director Sarah Robinson explained that a domestic violence protection order, also referred to as a Relief from Abuse Order, can provide broader protections.
“Relief from Abuse Orders may include firearms protections but can include many other forms of protection,” noted Robinson. “The conditions that are available with a Relief from Abuse Order include refraining from abusing a victim, children or an animal that's associated with the victim or their household; remaining fixed distances from a victim, their children a residence or places of employment. And the conditions of a Relief from Abuse Order can also include temporary custody of minor children. So, there is a whole range of relief and conditions available.”
According to a 2022 report from the Vermont Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission, since 1994 firearms have been used in more than half of domestic violence related homicides.
