Red Flag Gun Law Failed to Keep Alleged Colorado Night Club Shooting Suspect From Getting a Gun

As Colorado Springs attempts to recover from the nightclub shooting that left 5 people dead and about 2 dozen others wounded, reporters and investigators are attempting to learn more about the suspected shooter, and why he was able to get a gun.

Anderson Lee Aldrich was taken into custody on Sunday as the alleged perpetrator of the attack on Club Q. Law enforcement are still investigating whether the attack was a hate crime against the LGBTQ community, but in the meantime, multiple reports on Aldrich have uncovered personal details about him, including his history of making violent threats.

In June 2021, a man with Aldrich’s name and date of birth was reportedly arrested after a standoff with the police when he threatened to harm his mother with a homemade bomb and other weapons. CNN obtained Ring doorbell footage that purportedly shows Aldrich surrendering himself to law enforcement after the local neighborhood had been evacuated over his threats.

The incident took place at the home of Leslie Bowman, who described Aldrich as “aggressive” and wondered how he was able to obtain the rifle he allegedly used during the nightclub attack.

“Why is he not in jail, after that happening?” Bowman told The New York Times. “After that initial day, police never reached out to me for additional information. I’m a Second Amendment supporter, don’t get me wrong. But for him to be out there, and have access to weapons after that incident, I don’t understand it.”

Aldrich was reportedly accused of felony menacing and other crimes over the bomb threat incident, but according to the Associated Press, there’s no public record that prosecutors moved forward with those charges. Thus, the AP points out that Aldrich was not subject to “red flag” laws in Colorado, which might’ve restricted his access to weapons and made him known to law enforcement.

From the report:

The law that allows guns to be removed from people deemed dangerous to themselves or others has seldom been used in the state, particularly in El Paso County, home to Colorado Springs, where the 22-year-old Aldrich allegedly went into Club Q with a long gun at just before midnight and opened fire before he was subdued by patrons.

An Associated Press analysis found Colorado has one of the lowest rates of red flag usage despite widespread gun ownership and several high-profile mass shootings.

The El Paso County sheriff’s office declined to tell AP what happened after Aldrich’s arrest last year, and their search through online court records search did not show any indication that the charges that were raised against him were followed through. The office’s press release said there were no explosives found after Aldrich’s standoff, but it “did not mention anything about whether any weapons were recovered.”