Restraining Orders

A judge can issue a temporary or longer-term extreme risk protection order if s/he finds that the respondent poses a significant risk of causing personal injury to himself/herself or others in the near future by having a firearm in his/her custody or control, or by purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm.¹ To decide whether the respondent poses a “significant risk,” a judge will consider multiple factors, including any evidence of the respondent’s:

• recent act or credible threat of violence against himself/herself or others, even if the violence or threat of violence does not involve a firearm;
• pattern of acts or credible threats of violence within the past year, including acts or threats of violence against himself/herself or others;
• violation of a domestic violence protection order;
• prior or current extreme risk protection orders and any violations of those orders;
• conviction of a crime that included domestic violence;
• ownership, access to, or intention to possess a firearm;
• believable threat of, or illegal or reckless use of, a firearm;
• history of use, attempted use, or threatened use of illegal physical force against another person;
• history of stalking another person;
• previous arrests for certain crimes;
• abuse of drugs or alcohol;
• requirement to possess, carry, or use a firearm as a condition of his/her employment; and
• recent gaining of a firearm or ammunition.²

¹ Colo. Stat. § 13-14.5-105(2)
² Colo. Stat. § 13-14.5-105(3)