Amid an effort to allow more states to briefly seize firearms from troubled individuals, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Friday met with Connecticut police to hear their thoughts on the state’s “red flag” provision. 

Since 1999, police and family members in Connecticut have been able to seek extreme risk protection orders, or “red flag” orders, for individuals who pose an imminent threat to themselves or others. Not all such petitions are approved, but when they are, police temporarily can seize the individual’s firearms, ideally mitigating the threat.

According to a news release from Blumenthal’s office, judges have granted 1,519 such orders since the law was enacted, or about 80 per year.

At Friday’s gathering in Wethersfield, a state police detective and chiefs from across Connecticut shared their experiences with the law, which was established after a March 1998 shooting at the Connecticut Lottery headquarters. In that case, a disgruntled employee shot and killed four coworkers before turning the gun on himself. Officials later learned he had attempted suicide in the past and was being treated for depression.

Groton Town police Chief Louis J. Fusaro Jr. was among those who traveled to the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association building for the forum. According to a news release, chiefs from Newington, Watertown, Wethersfield, Waterbury, Bridgeport, Willimantic and East Harford attended.

Fusaro said the meeting was productive, in part because all who participated seemed to agree the red flag law had helped them at least once.

In Groton, a less than 6-month-old incident came to mind for Fusaro. A man had indicated, through words and actions, that he intended to harm others, Fusaro said. In at least one case, the man made threats directly in front of an officer.

After taking all the necessary steps, Groton Town police received a risk warrant to seize the man's firearms and did so without incident, Fusaro said.

“You can’t prove a negative,” Fusaro said, acknowledging that it’s hard to say whether police prevent violence when they take firearms.

“But we’ve dealt with some very significant incidents here in Connecticut,” he said. “There are clearly examples where people should not have been in possession of firearms. I think we can all agree on that.”

Blumenthal, a Democrat, is working on his red flag legislation in conjunction with Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican out of South Carolina. According to a news release, the developing legislation would allow people in all states to tap into the federal court system if they believe a person’s access to guns should be restricted.

Blumenthal stressed that, in all cases, the firearm removal would be temporary — generally 72 hours or less — and each affected person would be afforded due process.

“When law enforcement has solid evidence that someone is in crisis — intensely and imminently a danger — there should be a process for protecting them and the public from the guns they possess or buy,” Blumenthal said in the release.

Fusaro said the issue of arming teachers with guns also came up during Friday’s discussion. Overwhelmingly, he said, the chiefs thought that proposal is a bad idea.

“We want our educators to educate,” Fusaro said, stressing the hefty amount of training required for those who carry guns as part of their job.

Fusaro said most chiefs at the meeting said they’d rather see increased funding for school resource officers than funding to arm teachers. In Groton, one resource officer works full time in Fitch High School.

“Students tell these school resource officers things they don’t tell anyone else,” Fusaro said, highlighting their importance.

Fusaro said he knows it will take intense discussions among stakeholders to reach a national compromise on the issue of firearm rights.

“I believe in the Bill of Rights,” he said. “I believe in the Second Amendment just like I believe in freedom of speech. But there are limits on freedom of speech. You can’t go into a crowded theater and yell, ‘Fire!’ There are reasonable limitations that we can put into place.”

l.boyle@theday.com