‘Red flag’ law referendum qualifies for Maine ballot

By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff

Maine voters will decide this fall whether to adopt a “red flag” law.

The Maine secretary of state’s office on March 7 confirmed that organizers had at least 74,888 valid signatures, more than the 67,682 needed to qualify for the November ballot. Organizers submitted their signatures just ahead of the deadline in January.

It now goes to the Legislature, which can either adopt the law as is or send it to voters.

“This was the final hurdle in a process that began in the aftermath of Lewiston, as people across Maine and family members of those lost asked how we prevent this from ever happening again,” Nacole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, said in a statement. “This past fall, tens of thousands of Mainers decided to step up where elected leaders didn’t, and put a real Extreme Risk Protection Order law on the ballot. This is a proven, commonsense tool for families that’s been effective in many other states in saving countless lives and preventing tragedies like Lewiston.”

A red-flag law, also known as an extreme risk protection order, allows families to petition a judge to take away a relative’s guns when they pose a danger to themselves and others. It was among a slew of gun control bills introduced in the last legislative session in response to the October 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston that left 18 people dead and 13 wounded.

Lawmakers passed several changes to the state’s gun laws, including a 72-hour waiting period that’s been widely opposed by gun sellers and gun-rights groups, such as the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, and is now the target of a lawsuit. Lawmakers also passed expanded background checks covering all advertised gun sales but exempting transfers between family members.

But other measures failed to pass. Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a bump-stock ban, calling it “broad” and “ambiguous.”

The red flag law was among those that failed to garner enough support. Instead, lawmakers modified elements of Maine’s existing yellow-flag law, which was negotiated by Mills and the gun-rights Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and allows law enforcement to ask a judge for permission to temporarily seize someone’s guns when they pose a threat.

Since the Lewiston shooting, police have used the yellow-flag law more than 500 times, compared with fewer than 100 between 2019 and October 2023.

During her State of the Budget address in January, Mills criticized the red flag referendum, saying it would “directly undermine” Maine’s yellow flag law.

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have a red flag law, according to Giffords Law Center. The red flag law can prevent another Lewiston and even reduce suicides, the leading cause of firearm deaths among Maine men, the Maine Gun Safety Coalition said.

In December 2024, a red flag law was used in California to disarm a man who allegedly was plotting a mass shooting, CBS News reported.