A legislative committee has reversed course and now plans to hold a public hearing later this week on a "red flag" gun law.
Voters will decide in November on a red flag proposal that would allow family members to seek a court order to force someone to temporarily relinquish their guns if they pose a danger to themselves or others. But Republican lawmakers and gun owners' rights groups who oppose red flag laws have been accusing the Legislature's Democratic leaders of ignoring a state law requiring a public hearing on citizen-initiated bills. The Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, the NRA and Gun Owners of Maine had threatened to sue to force a hearing.
The Legislature's Judiciary Committee now plans to hear testimony on the issue, LD 1378, starting at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 11. Senate Democrats had blocked a Republican attempt to force a public hearing last week but GOP lawmakers were planning additional parliamentary maneuvers this week to continue pressuring the majority party.
“I’m relieved that my Democrat colleagues finally realized they could not get away with silencing the voices of Maine citizens to limit criticism of this radical gun-control proposal,” Senate Republican Leader Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle, said in a statement late Monday night. “Even the most rabid gun-control activists realized that breaking the law to silence their opposition was not an acceptable way to move their agenda forward.”
The Democratic co-chairs of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Anne Carney of Cape Elizabeth and Rep. Amy Kuhn of Falmouth, had previously said that they did not believe it was necessary or timely a public hearing because the question is ultimately headed to voters this fall. Gun owners' rights groups and Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, regard the hearing as a high-profile venue to air opposition to the proposal.
The Maine Gun Safety Coalition gathered enough signatures to place the citizen's initiative on the fall ballot. If approved by voters, the referendum would expand upon Maine's existing "yellow flag" law, which only allows police to start the court process to require an individual to temporarily surrender their firearms. Maine's yellow flag law, which took effect in 2020, also requires a medical professional to agree that the person poses a potential danger to themselves or others.
Lawmakers have three options when presented with a citizen's initiative that qualified for the ballot. They can approve the proposed law as written, thereby eliminating the need for a statewide vote. They can send the issue to voters without any changes to the bill. Or they can send the original version to voters alongside a "competing measure" crafted by the Legislature.
Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, said in a statement on Tuesday that citizen's initiatives should be decided by voters — not by politicians in Augusta — and that "the right place for this discussion is at the ballot box."
"Good governance requires listening to constituents and responding to their concerns in a timely and transparent manner," Daughtry said. "While our Republican counterparts have repeatedly attempted to play games with the public process this session — including not listening to the outcry of rural hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care providers during the supplemental budget process — we are committed to a different approach. Ultimately, regardless of what happens in Augusta, the final decision, like all citizen initiatives, will be made by Maine voters on election day.”
