Police have used Maine’s “yellow-flag law” more than 1,000 times.
That comes as Maine voters are set to decide this November whether to adopt a “red-flag law” via referendum.
A red-flag law, also known as an extreme risk protection order, allows families to petition a judge to take away a relative’s guns when they pose a danger to themselves and others. It was among a slew of gun control bills introduced in the Legislative session in response to the October 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston that left 18 people dead and 13 wounded.
The red-flag law referendum qualified for the ballot in March.
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have a red flag law, according to Giffords Law Center.
Under Maine’s yellow-flag law, police can petition judges to temporarily remove weapons from people who may pose a danger to themselves or others. Judges have approved 1,037 such orders.
“Maine’s Extreme Risk Protection Order law is working. It is saving lives every day,” Gov. Janet Mills said in a Thursday 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.”
The Legislature passed, and Mills signed into law, a yellow-flag bill in 2019, and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld it in 2022.
Police use of the yellow-flag law has surged since the Lewiston mass shooting. It was used fewer than 100 times between 2019 and October 2023.
“Maine’s law is a life-saving tool that effectively balances a person’s due process rights under the Constitution while protecting their lives and the lives of Mainers across our state,” said Michael Sauschuck, commissioner of the Maine Department of Public Safety.
