Police in Maine have used the state's "yellow flag" gun law more than 1,000 times over the past five years to temporarily take weapons away from dangerous people.
State officials said the high utilization rate since the mass shootings in Lewiston illustrates that the law is working. But the proponents of a "red flag" referendum on this November's ballot argue Maine families still need additional tools to deal with a loved one in the grips of a mental health crisis.
"It's good that it's been used more since (Lewiston) but that still does not mean it is effective and that it is as effective as it can be," said Jack Sorensen, spokesman for the Yes on Question 2 campaign behind the "red flag" proposal.
Passed by state lawmakers in 2019, Maine's unique "yellow flag" law allows police to ask a judge to order someone to relinquish their guns if a mental health professional agrees that the individual is suicidal or poses a threat to others. But police only used the law 81 times during the first three years it was on the books in Maine.
That changed dramatically after the October 2023 mass shootings in Lewiston that left 18 people dead. Police have invoked the law more than 950 times in the 22 months since Lewiston — a more than tenfold increase.
“It is saving lives every day,” Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat who helped negotiate the law, said in a statement. “Law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges are accustomed to the law and understand the process. It is being used at least once every day in courts across the state. The law is preventing suicide and other violent behavior; it puts the responsibility for protecting public safety squarely on public officials, without putting the responsibility on family members, neighbors, bystanders or other private citizens.”
As of earlier this week, the law had been used 1,037 times in Maine, most often to deal with potentially suicidal individuals.
Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said in an interview that it took time to streamline the process and educate police about using the law. Through a state contract with the behavioral health organization Spurwink, police departments anywhere in Maine can now obtain mental health assessments remotely for yellow-flagged individuals rather than having to find a hospital emergency room willing to conduct an in-person evaluation. Lawmakers also tweaked the law after the 2023 mass shootings to make it easier for police to take someone into "protective custody."
Sauschuck said the changes, combined with additional training for police, have clearly worked.
"I read five of these this morning," Sauschuck said. "So you know, these things are active — they are occurring every day. The process is effective. It is saving lives in this state every single day. So it works."
Back in 2019, it was clear that the type of red flag law adopted in other states would not pass Maine's historically gun-friendly Legislature. Most Republicans and some Democrats from rural areas opposed the measure because of concerns from gun owners' rights groups who argue red flag laws do not protect constitutional "due process" rights. The resulting yellow flag compromise — negotiated by Mills, gun control advocates, gun owners' rights groups and a bipartisan group of lawmakers — added the mental health assessment and only allowed police to begin the process.
But supporters of a broader red flag law have never given up. And the push for a red flag law allow family members to directly petition a judge, without first going to police, gained tremendous momentum following the 2023 Lewiston shootings.
Police did not use the yellow flag process against the Lewiston gunman despite numerous warnings from family, friends and his fellow Army reservists.
The Maine Gun Safety Coalition and other groups collected more than 80,000 petition signatures to place a red flag question on the November ballot. If passed by voters, a new law would supplement, not replace, the yellow flag law.
Sorensen, the spokesman for the Yes on 2 campaign, said the yellow flag law is not a true "extreme risk protection order" like the laws enacted in red flag states.
"It's important to understand that under a real extreme risk protection order, law enforcement can still initiate the process, just like they can now," Sorensen said. "But the key component is that it empowers familes to go directly to a court instead. And that's where the law failed in Lewiston. We can never know, obviously, but if Maine had had a real extreme risk protection order law in place instead of this watered-down version, then perhaps one of the many warnings about the Lewiston shooter would have resulted in action."
Supporters argue that it gives families additional options because going to the police first could be a deterrent for some households. They also point to the Lewiston mass shooting as an example of police failing to utilize the existing law. A state commission that investigated the shooting faulted local police but also Army Reserve officials for failing to take steps to remove the gunman's numerous firearms.
But opponents of the red flag proposal, including Mills, say the current law is more thorough because it requires police to have the person assessed by a mental health professional. Gun owners' rights groups say the law also better protects the constitutional "due process" rights of individuals targeted with an extreme risk protection order.
Sauschuck, the state's public safety commissioner, said it is ultimately up voters this fall. But he said the more than 1,000 times the law has been utilized in recent years shows the current law is working.
"We see it all the time," Sauschuck said. "And I'm proud of our law enforcement officers. I'm proud of our partnership with Spurwink and all the lives that they are truly saving with our current statute."
