A prominent gun control group has bumped the strength of Maine's firearms laws from a D-minus to a C-plus following the legislature's response to the Lewiston mass shootings last year.
The Giffords Law Center dubbed Maine the most improved in the nation after Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, and the Democratic controlled legislature approved a slate of reforms, including expanded background checks and a three-day waiting period to purchase firearms.
The change is a notable one for Maine, which had received an F as recently as 2022 and where firearms laws have long been shaped by gun rights groups. The mass shooting in Lewiston changed that dynamic this year, but it's unclear for how long.
While the passage of the waiting period and expanded background check laws were considered major reforms by gun control advocates, they are also trying to bring a red flag law before voters either next year or in 2026. Such a proposal would allow family members to petition a judge to have a loved one's firearms removed if they are deemed dangerous to themselves or others.
Maine has a so-called yellow flag law that the governor crafted with a prominent gun rights groups and other stakeholders in 2019. It was used infrequently before the Lewiston shooting, but usage has ballooned in the wake of a tragedy that resulted in the death of 18 people. The law prioritizes due process for guns over the speed of weapon removal and includes steps that no other extreme risk protection order, or ERPO, does in the 20 states that have them. Those steps include a mental health evaluation.
An investigation by Maine Public, the Portland Press Herald and Frontline PBS showed that lawmakers considered a red flag bill immediately after the Lewiston shooting but slow-walked the proposal after the governor signaled that it and other measures were unlikely to get her support.
The governor sponsored the proposal that expanded background checks while she allowed the legislature-initiated waiting period proposal to become law without her signature. The constitutionality of the law is being challenged by gun rights groups.
