The state of New York reacted almost immediately to the Bruen decision and created some of the most extensive carry laws in the nation. Unsurprisingly, they were challenged and I suspect we’ll get more Supreme Court decisions because of them.

We’ve never really thought of it as a pro-gun state, though, so the move wasn’t overly surprising. It was stupid, not shocking.

Yet as bad as the post-Bruen law was, it was also never going to be the end of gun control in New York. Not by a long shot.

Now, there’s yet another law that seems small but has me more than a little concerned.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a new law to exempt applications for an extreme risk protection order from requiring an index number fee.

This law will strengthen New York state’s Extreme Risk Protection Order Law, also known as the Red Flag Law.

The law prevents individuals who show signs of being a threat to themselves or others from purchasing or possessing any kind of firearm.

The Red Flag Law provides procedural safeguards to ensure that no firearm is removed without due process while helping to prevent tragedies like the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and the racist mass shooting in Buffalo.

The number of extreme risk protection orders has increased by 10 times since the new legislation was enacted in June 2022.

Except, of course, they ensure no such thing. They might help, but as we know, the red flag law already on the books failed to stop Buffalo from happening. Florida’s also failed to stop Jacksonville just as Colorado’s failed to stop either Boulder or Colorado Springs.

Funny, that.

The purpose of this particular law, of course, is to make it easier for people to take out red flag orders. The thinking being that people might identify someone as a threat but not have the money to take out an order.

I’m not sure that’s really an issue. I mean, if you think your loved one is about to carry out a mass shooting, aren’t you at least going to try and tell someone who can do something? I’m pretty sure law enforcement, for example, won’t be paying a filing fee.

Yet what we are going to see is a lot more people filing red flag orders where there’s really not a threat. Maybe someone makes someone a little uncomfortable over a vehemently discussed political position or something of that sort, and rather than think about it a bit, they just file for a red flag order.

After all, it’s free.

What’s more, what we’ll see is the number of orders issues–and they’re generally issued first and then due process follows later–given as evidence the laws work.

We’ve seen this time and time again.

Yet what we don’t see are statistics on the number of issued red flag orders that turned out to be based on bogus claims. We don’t get numbers showing how many people had their Second Amendment rights stripped because some judge in New York was convinced someone was a danger when, in reality, the person who had mental health issues was the person who requested the order.

We’re damn sure not going to see statistics on any of this because no one in a red flag order state wants to even look.

But New York is ready to make it even easier to get a bogus order.