One day after Colorado’s red-flag law came into effect, a Denver judge temporarily granted a police officer’s request to keep a suicidal man’s confiscated guns under the new firearm seizure law.

Denver police filed the petition for the temporary extreme risk protection order Jan. 2 in Denver Probate Court for a man suspected of beating his wife and who made suicidal statements when contacted by officers, according to a copy of the petition obtained by The Denver Post.

The petition likely is the first filed under the state’s red-flag law, which allows family members and law enforcement to ask that a person’s guns be removed if they present a danger to themselves or others. The law, passed in the 2019 legislative session, has prompted controversy across the state, including sparking some sheriffs to say they won’t enforce the law because it violates people’s constitutional right to bear arms.

“This is the first one to my knowledge, but there are possibly others,” said Jon Sarché, spokesman for the Colorado Judicial Department.

Denver police spokesman Jay Casillas said he didn’t know if the filing was the first in the state. He said the department would not provide a comment on the case while the protection order remains temporary.

“We won’t be able to say anything before that,” Casillas said.

A Jan. 16 hearing is scheduled in the case, Sarché said. A Denver judge will decide whether to extend the temporary protection order for up to a year.

The petition stemmed from a Dec. 29 domestic violence call. Police responded to a home in the 4600 block of Balsam Way for a report of an argument. A woman at the home said her husband had hit her and provided a description of him, according to the petition for the protective order.

Officers found a person matching that description walking near the home with a cut on his face and a handgun in his waistband. The man, who was drunk, told police he was going to kill himself with the gun after fighting with his wife and sister-in-law. He said he had hit his wife after she hit him with a bottle.

Officers then spoke with his wife, who said she hit her husband in self-defense while he strangled her. She said she threw the bottle at her husband but didn’t mean to hit him.

Officers attempted to place the man on a mental health hold, but Swedish Medical Center turned him away because he was intoxicated, according to the petition. Police then took him into custody on suspicion of second-degree domestic violence assault and confiscated his gun.

The case was assigned to a detective in the police department’s domestic violence unit, who filed the request for the temporary protection order under the new red-flag law.

Already, law enforcement had two reasons to confiscate the man’s guns. First, he had one in his possession when he was arrested. And the state’s laws allow guns to be taken from some domestic violence suspects. The new red-flag law adds another option for law enforcement to seize guns from people considered a danger to others or to themselves.

The man later told police that he was drunk the night of the incident and didn’t remember much. He said he had a gun on him because he was upset and “contemplating doing something bad to myself” and said it was “a good thing they stopped me because it was not good,” according to the petition.

The man also told the detective, Sgt. Troy Bisgard, there was a second gun in his home that he was willing to surrender. On Dec. 31, the man gave up that gun as required under Colorado domestic violence law.

The Denver District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges against the man in connection to the incident. The Denver Post is not identifying the man because charges were not filed.

In explaining why he requested the extreme risk protection order, Bisgard cited the suicidal statements the man made Dec. 29 and Dec. 31.

“The incident between (name redacted) and his wife has been investigated to completion and on Jan. 2, 2020, the Denver District Attorney’s Office declined formal charges on both,” Bisgard wrote in the petition. “The Denver Police Department must now consider releasing (name redacted) handguns back to him after the suicidal statements he made to officers and the investigating detective. Your petitioner is seeking direction from the court as it pertains to C.R.S. 13-14.5.101, Extreme Risk Protection Orders.”

Uncertainty about the law loomed in the months before it went into effect. Law enforcement, court staff and prosecutors did not know how many of the cases they’d see, and police agencies worked to create policies and train staff on the new law. Colorado legislative staff estimated that about 170 petitions would be filed annually across the state, though some states with similar laws saw far higher usage rates.

The Denver Police Department in preparation for the law set up a separate gun storage area for firearms surrendered or confiscated under the red-flag law, Division Chief Joe Montoya previously told The Denver Post. The police officers’ union opposed the bill during the legislative session, but Montoya said he believes it will save lives.

Sheriffs for counties surrounding Denver — Adams, Jefferson, Arapahoe and Douglas — have all said they will enforce the law. Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader created a policy that states his deputies will not confiscate guns unless the person in question faces an arrest warrant or an emergency mental health hold.