Gun safety advocates in Maine have launched a signature-gathering effort to try and get a red flag law on the ballot after legislative efforts came up short in the wake of the Lewiston mass shooting.

The Maine Gun Safety Coalition and allies announced their campaign Thursday. It follows the October 2023 shooting that left 18 people dead and the release last month of a report by a state commission that found law enforcement could have done more before the rampage to remove the shooter’s weapons.

Lawmakers considered adopting a red flag law last spring. The proposal made it out of committee but was never voted on by the full House or Senate. Red flag laws, also known as extreme-risk protection orders, remove the need for a mental health evaluation before family members, in addition to police, can initiate the process of restricting access to weapons for a person in crisis.

“In the aftermath of last year’s tragedy in Lewiston, people in communities across Maine have asked what could have been done differently,” Nacole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, said in a statement. “The Lewiston report laid bare the inadequacies of the half-measure lawmakers passed in 2019. The commission did its part, and now the rest is up to us. It’s time to protect Maine’s schools and communities with an extreme-risk protection order law.”

Lawmakers in 2019 passed Maine’s existing yellow flag law, which requires law enforcement to take someone into protective custody and have a mental health evaluation done before a court can sign off on an order restricting their access to weapons because they pose a threat to themselves or someone else.

The commission appointed by Gov. Janet Mills to investigate the facts of the Lewiston shooting found that the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office should have done more to take Robert Card, the Lewiston shooter, into protective custody and confiscate his firearms under the law. The sheriff’s office has defended its response, with officers telling the commission during a hearing last winter that the law can be cumbersome and difficult to use.

Red flag proposals generally don’t require protective custody or a mental health evaluation, but family members or police must submit a petition and an affidavit detailing their concerns about the person’s access to weapons. A judge could rule to temporarily remove a person’s weapons on an emergency basis prior to holding a hearing, or could wait for a hearing to be held on the matter.

According to the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, Maine is the only state with a yellow flag law while 21 other states and Washington, D.C., have extreme-risk protection orders.

Supporters say such laws provide an important path forward for families seeking to restrict a loved one’s access to firearms without stigmatizing mental illness. Opponents have raised concerns about a lack of due process and say red flag laws infringe on Second Amendment rights.

A woman visits a makeshift memorial outside Sparetime Bowling Alley, the site of a mass shooting, Oct. 28, 2023, in Lewiston. Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press, file

“Anytime there is any type of law that intends to remove firearms from responsible gun owners without due process, what they’re saying is the people of Maine don’t know how to take care of themselves,” said Laura Whitcomb, president of Gun Owners of Maine, a group that advocates for Second Amendment rights. “We believe that individual Maine residents not only have the right, but have a codified right in the Maine and U.S. constitutions, to be able to protect themselves.”

Whitcomb said the commission’s report backs up the idea that Maine’s yellow flag law is effective, but it wasn’t used as needed by officers in Card’s case, an assertion that Mills also made in her response to the commission’s report.

GOVERNOR DOESN’T SEE NEED

The governor has said that she doesn’t see a need for stronger gun laws, such as a red flag law or assault weapons ban, in the wake of the mass shooting and has defended the yellow flag law.

“Maine’s extreme-risk protection order law works,” she told reporters last month, pointing out that the statute has been used more than once a day by Maine police since the shooting. “I really think we have a very effective law in place right now.”

In order to start a citizen’s initiative, a voter must submit an application to the Maine Department of the Secretary of State along with the names and signatures of five other registered voters.

In addition to Palmer, the five other petitioners involved in the red flag effort are Arthur Barnard, of Topsham, father of Lewiston shooting victim Arthur Strout; Joe Anderson, of Portland, a pediatric hospitalist in Lewiston; Cathy Harris, of Mechanic Falls, a retired teacher; Lisa Durkee, of Blue Hill, a minister; and Doug Rawlings, of Chesterfield, a military veteran.

“In the year since I lost my son, we went to Augusta and tried to get lawmakers to do the right thing and tighten this law up, and they fell short,” Barnard said in a statement. “Now we’re taking this common-sense proposal directly to the people of Maine. If extreme-risk protection orders could prevent just one more family from ever having to experience what I’ve gone through – what my grandchildren are going through every day – it’s worth it.”

The group will need to gather at least 67,682 signatures from Maine voters to qualify for the ballot, a number that is equal to at least 10% of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, the secretary of state’s office said.

A spokesperson for the office said Thursday that the initiative won’t make this November’s ballot and that in order to qualify for the ballot in November 2025, the signatures will need to be turned in by 5 p.m. on Jan. 23. For the November 2026 ballot, the deadline is Feb. 2, 2026.