First Red Flag Conviction In Florida After Man Refuses To Give Up His Guns

A man from Deerfield Beach, Florida, faces a potential of five years in prison after being convicted for defying the state’s “red flag” law, which allows authorities to confiscate weapons from those deemed to be at high risk of committing a crime. The case is the first conviction under the state’s relatively new gun law, which was passed in part as a response to the horrific mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Since the red flag law went into effect in March 2018, Florida has seized guns from over 2,000 residents of the state. But while the state has taken thousands of weapons, it has not convicted anyone for violating the law — until this week. As reported by the Sun Sentinel, after being charged in March 2018 under the law for refusing to hand over his firearms, Jerron Smith, 33, was convicted by a Broward Circuit court this week on charges carrying as many as five years in prison.