Maine Gov. Janet Mills is reiterating her opposition to Question 2 on the November ballot, a proposal would allow family members to petition a judge to temporarily confiscate firearms from a person deemed dangerous to themselves or others.
Mills used a column in the Portland Press Herald to outline her criticism of an extreme risk protection order proposal backed by gun safety advocates.
The governor, a Democrat, argued that the referendum would undermine the so-called yellow flag law she helped craft with a prominent gun rights group in 2019. She also argued that the proposed red flag law could endanger and confuse family members.
Gun safety groups have rejected those claims, noting that more than 20 other states have red flag laws and that the Maine proposal is another tool for family members who don't want to involve police. Police can also use the process to disarm someone deemed dangerous.
Mills has defended Maine's novel yellow flag law ever since it came under scrutiny when it wasn't used to stop a gunman in Lewiston from carrying out the worst mass shooting in state history.
Question 2 is a direct outgrowth of that opposition. Gun safety advocates proposed a citizens initiative when the Democratic controlled legislature declined to advance a red flag bill in the wake of the Lewiston tragedy.
