The recent report on the tragic Lewiston mass shooting has sparked renewed debate about Maine’s yellow flag law – a law that was supposed to protect communities by temporarily disarming dangerous individuals. Yet, the findings reveal missed opportunities, including that the law designed for crisis situations was never used by law enforcement. As a result, 18 people were killed and 13 people were injured in what was the deadliest shooting in Maine.

Instead of a full Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law, Maine settled for a watered-down version called a yellow flag law, which requires a psychiatric evaluation in addition to law enforcement intervention before any action can be taken. In short, a judge can only issue a yellow flag order after the respondent has both been taken into custody and a medical evaluation has been performed. This delay is not just a bureaucratic hurdle; it’s a dangerous gamble.

As someone who studies gun violence prevention laws and works to implement them, I can tell you that ERPO laws, also known as “red flag” laws, are designed to prevent such tragedies and minimize the hurdles present in Maine’s yellow flag law. ERPOs empower law enforcement and, depending on the state, family members and health care providers to petition a court directly when they see warning signs – without the need for a psychiatric evaluation that can not only waste crucial time but also inaccurately convey the message that all gun violence is caused by mental illness.

Maine’s yellow flag law, on the other hand, places unnecessary obstacles in the way of swift action. The requirement of a medical evaluation assumes that those who are dangerous are suffering from a mental health crisis or have a diagnosable mental illness, which is not always the case. However, of course, mental health did in fact play a role in the Lewiston mass shooting. Many times, these individuals are dangerous not because they live with a mental illness but because they exhibit violent behavior. Indeed, the focus on behaviors, not diagnosis, is precisely why red flag laws are successful while yellow flag laws are not.

The report on the Lewiston shooting acknowledged that the yellow flag law could have been invoked, but the reality is that the way it is written made it too weak to act as a real deterrent and intervene quickly to prevent violence. By requiring multiple steps and creating additional loopholes before firearms can be temporarily removed or a firearm purchase can be prevented, the law essentially tied the hands of those who should have acted to disarm the shooter. This tragedy could have been prevented if Maine had an ERPO law, a law that in many states allows for immediate action when someone poses a danger to themselves and/or others.

In the days since the Lewiston mass shooting report was released, the Maine Gun Safety Coalition has already called for the state to pass an ERPO law. It is also worth noting that, in the months following the Lewiston mass shooting, the Legislature successfully passed several gun violence prevention policies, including expanded background checks and a waiting period to buy a firearm, though efforts to pass a red flag law ultimately failed.

While there were missed opportunities, Maine’s yellow flag law was set up to fail from the start. It was a compromise that prioritized political expediency and palatability over public health and safety. It’s time to learn from mistakes of the past and pass a full ERPO law in Maine. Lives depend on it.