If you are looking for evidence that our terrific governor is not, in fact, a far-left kind of guy, but rather a thoughtful moderate, you need look no further than a recent Colorado Politics story that discussed Jared Polis’s view on red flag laws versus a ban on the sale of assault rifles. Red flag laws vary in the details, but basically these laws are designed to let appropriate people petition for the temporary removal of guns from a person deemed to be an immediate and significant threat of gun violence.

Now, as I’ve written before, we all agree on basic gun control. No reasonable American thinks he or she should be able to own, say, an anti-tank missile or an anthrax cannon. No thinking person thinks a 10-year-old should be able to buy a flame thrower, nor should anyone be able to buy an Abrams main battle tank, complete with armor-piercing shells. So, we all agree with the overall idea of gun control, though we differ sharply on where to draw the line.

Over the years we have seen that an assault rifle ban had pluses and minuses. The national ban that was in place for a decade did lower gun violence, but it is not entirely clear how much of that reduction came from the banning of certain weapons and how much from other factors, like limiting magazine size.

And while some in the state legislature are intent on introducing a Colorado assault rifle bill, Polis argues a better and more fully implemented red flag law would actually do a better job of lowering violence. As noted in the CoPo story, Polis argues “Extreme Risk Protection Orders” are central to his public safety message, as stated in his recent State of the State address. And as a guy who is a former military cop and a gun owner, I think his idea is intriguing, in part because it might actually become law.

I say that last bit because I have doubts about how effectively an assault rifle ban bill can be drafted and implemented. Don’t get me wrong, I support such a ban. You don’t need an assault rifle to defend your home nor to take down a deer. Assault rifles, such as the M-16 I carried as a military cop, are designed to shoot lots of very high-speed rounds at a very rapid pace over a great distance. Such bullets have been known to go clean through the walls of one house and into another. Military grade weapons – and that’s the key word, grade – are simply not needed nor are they safe outside of the military. A shotgun is a much better way to defend a home.

One of the major problems with the old national bill was that it was written imprecisely. In one case, a particular weapon was illegal, but if the bayonet lug was removed, the same gun became legal, and that was silly. Given the wide range of assault rifles out there, it will be very difficult (but not impossible) to write a law that is fully comprehensive and also fair to gun owners.

And so, I’m rather intrigued by Polis’s red flag idea. In his address, Polis noted “right now, loved ones and local law enforcement have the ability to pursue an extreme risk protection order. But why not expand this to include additional petitioners, like district attorneys?” Perhaps that list could or should be expanded to include, say, mental health professionals with clients about whom they are worried. There may be others. But the basic idea seems to be that rather than go after problematic weapons, we try to help problematic people in crisis.

Now, living in Colorado Springs as I do, I can see a set of problems right off the bat. In my community, which is about as deep red and far-right as you will find in the state, there may be political impediments, as some on the far-right have vowed to become “sanctuary cities” for gun rights, as they see them. And I can almost hear them yelling, “they are coming after your guns!” anytime a red flag law might be used.

But I also can’t help but wonder if a better red flag law might have saved lives at the horrific Club Q shooting, given the troubling past of the alleged shooter. We can’t know in hindsight, of course, but there were warning signs.

As noted in the article, while other police agencies have invoked the red flag law hundreds of times already, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office hasn’t used it once, and the Colorado Springs Police Department has only used it twice in the last three years, in a city of roughly a half-million people. This appears to me to be a political stance, drawing an absolute line on gun violence, that may have already cost lives.

I admit, I’m intrigued by the Governor’s proposal, as a way to help save lives while simultaneously avoiding the political fight that would go along with any assault rifle ban. But as long as there are law enforcement organizations that refuse to use the law at all, there are entire communities that are not protected from people who might otherwise have their weapons taken from them for a while, as they work through a mental health crisis.

I will follow this proposal as it works its way through the state legislature. Perhaps it is a way forward on a difficult issue that just might end up saving lives.

Stay tuned.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.