Evidence in court shows red flag law order would not have prevented Club Q shooting
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- In the days following the Club Q shooting, the debate around increased gun control and legislation was front and center. Namely, whether the topic of law enforcement petitioning the courts for an extreme risk protection order (ERPO), also known as Colorado's red flag laws, against the suspected shooter in the mass killing.
In Anderson Aldrich's preliminary hearing last week, evidence pointed to the fact that these orders would not have prevented the mass shooting.
Evidence presented in the two-day hearing revealed the long rifle and handgun allegedly used in the shooting had no serial numbers on them, effectively making them untraceable and not subject to any type of background check.
At the same time as the suspect's hearing, Democrats were unveiling several new gun control bills introduced in the Colorado legislature. One of those bills, SB23-170, would expand who can file for ERPOs to include district attorneys, mental health professionals, and teachers. The bill also provides liability protections for those who wish to file an ERPO on someone.
Senate President Steve Fenberg of Boulder argued the expansion of the red flag law, in addition to other gun bills, would help prevent mass shootings in our state.
"From a suburban high school to a midnight movie showing, to a neighborhood grocery store, far too many families have suffered through the unimaginable pain of having someone murdered by gun violence," Fenberg said.
13 Investigates spoke with former 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler before the preliminary hearing. In that conversation, he warned that the red flag law may not be applicable in this case.
"My gut tells me this guy did not walk through a gun bar and purchased these things from a federally licensed dealer. I don't think that's what happened here," Brauchler said. "If he goes around that red flag, it could have done nothing to stop this. Nothing."
According to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, the suspect did have guns and ammunition during a June 2021 arrest in a Lorson Ranch neighborhood. However, a mandatory protection order, typically ordered once criminal charges are filed in a case, was immediately put in place. That order barred the suspect from legally purchasing guns.
Even once the case was dropped in court, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office says Aldrich's guns confiscated in the arrest remained in their evidence locker up until the Club Q shooting. It remains unclear how the suspect got the guns used in the Club Q mass shooting.
The ERPO expansion bill was introduced on February 23. It has not made it to the committee yet. The suspect will be back in an El Paso County courtroom for a pre-trial hearing on March 31.
