BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY, Ind. — Bartholomew County Sheriff's deputies used Indiana's red flag law during a standoff Friday to confiscate 20 firearms.
Police said a woman expressed concern with her husband's mental state. The woman told police her husband has a history of medical and mental health issues and he was making statements about harming himself and having others harm him. Police said the man told his wife he would draw a gun on others who carry so that they might shoot him.
Police responded to the man's home and observed multiple firearms inside the house as well as a handgun strapped to the subject’s hip. Police were able to take the man into custody through an open window after a brief standoff. Medics transported the man to Columbus Regional Hospital for evaluation.
Deputies later began red flag law procedures confiscating 20 firearms and removing them from the residence.
"This was a very difficult situation," said Bartholomew County Sheriff Matthew A. Myers. The red flag law, also known as the Jake Laird Law, allows officers to seize a person's gun if law enforcement thinks he or she is dangerous or mentally unstable.
"We certainly support our 2nd Amendment and BCSO personnel is not in the business of confiscating legally-owned firearms," Myers said. "However, due to the mental capacity of this subject and the statements he made, BCSO deputies had no other choice," added Sheriff Myers.
