When Police Take Guns from Someone Found Dangerous
IC 35-47-14-6 — the state proves dangerousness by clear and convincing evidence at a hearing
A person is dangerous where the person presents an imminent risk of personal injury to self or someone else, or is probably going to present that risk and either has a mental illness controllable by medication without a pattern of taking it unsupervised, or has documented evidence of a propensity for violent or suicidal conduct. Release from a mental health facility, or an illness controlled by medication, does not by itself make a person dangerous.
Who handles this in Indiana: legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Indiana directory.
- A court may issue a warrant to seize the firearm of a person who is dangerous, on an officer's sworn affidavit that specifically describes where the firearm is.
- An officer who seizes one without a warrant files an affidavit with the court within 48 hours, and if the court finds no probable cause, the firearm is returned within five days of the order.
- The court makes a good faith effort to hold a hearing within fourteen days of the return or affidavit, and a continuance of up to sixty days asked for by the person is liberally granted.
At the hearing the state proves dangerousness by clear and convincing evidence. If it does, the agency keeps the firearm, any carry license is suspended, and the person is barred from renting, receiving, owning or possessing a firearm. If it does not, the firearm comes back within five days and the records are sealed and expunged.
At least 180 days after the order, the person may petition for a finding of no longer dangerous: within one year of the order the person proves it by a preponderance of the evidence, and after a year the state has to prove continuing dangerousness by clear and convincing evidence.
Sources for this section (6)
- IC 35-47-14-1 — "Dangerous"
- IC 35-47-14-2 — Warrant to search for firearm in possession of dangerous individual; reporting
- IC 35-47-14-3 — Warrantless seizure of firearm from individual believed to be dangerous; reporting
- IC 35-47-14-5 — Requirement of hearing on whether firearm should be returned or retained
- IC 35-47-14-6 — Burden of proof at hearing; court orders; expungement
- IC 35-47-14-8 — Petition for return of a firearm; expungement; reporting
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Indiana attorney.