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Voters have the opportunity in November — by voting Yes on Question 2 — to continue the progress we have made in our state in protecting ourselves from gun violence. The proposed red flag law would provide what I consider a more efficient way — compared to our current yellow flag law — to remove dangerous weapons from an individual who might hurt us or hurt himself. Both laws contain due process provisions to respect our civil liberties.
There is a key difference between the two laws:
Under the proposed law, family or household members would petition the court directly to issue an extreme risk protection order (ERPO) to have the individual’s weapons confiscated. In contrast, under the current law, families must motivate law enforcement to act, which law enforcement sometimes hesitates to do.
Under the proposed law, law enforcement would be under a court order to act by serving the individual with the ERPO and confiscating the weapons then and there. It would be far less time consuming, and when a person is in crisis, time is of the essence.
Our current yellow flag law failed to prevent the shooting in Lewiston because law enforcement was not under any compulsion to act expeditiously, and, according to reports, their response was indeed insufficient. If we had a red flag law in force, the tragedy might well have been prevented.
We have the opportunity in November to make Maine a safer place to live. I urge everyone to join me in voting “yes” on Question 2.
Michael P. Bacon
Westbrook
