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300 Protective Orders in MD County Under "Red Flag" Gun Law

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - A Maryland sheriff says a new law that allows courts to temporarily restrict firearms access for people at risk to themselves or others resulted in more than 300 protective orders, five of which were related to schools.

Montgomery County Sheriff Darren Popkin told state lawmakers Tuesday that 302 orders were sought under the state's "red flag" law, in the first three months since the law took effect Oct. 1.

He says five of them related to schools, and four of those five "were significant threats."

Popkin says confidentiality measures prevented him from going into details about those cases. But, he says firearms were seized.

Popkin says "it was good these orders were not only sought, but issued and served in each one of those cases."

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.