This article examines practices in Wisconsin that help facilitate surrender of firearms from prohibited possessors.

Federal law prohibits respondents in Orders for Protection from possessing firearms since the passage in 1994 of the original Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Many states, Wisconsin included, have also legislated prohibitions similar to the federal prohibition. Enforcement of these prohibitions, however, has been an ongoing problem. Wisconsin not only developed clear protocols to facilitate enforcement of firearm surrender, but also piloted the protocols in four counties and evaluated the process. In 2014 these protocols became a legislated mandate.

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