AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine’s progressive House speaker is among the Democrats making a late effort to pass a so-called red flag law following the state’s deadliest mass shooting on record, though it faces a potential obstacle in Gov. Janet Mills.
House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, is sponsoring a bill printed Wednesday that would allow family members to petition a judge to temporarily remove weapons from a loved one who poses a “significant danger of causing severe harm” to others.
That would go further than Maine’s current yellow flag law, which requires police to take a person into protective custody and get them a mental health evaluation before a judge can consider removing their access to firearms. It passed instead of a red flag measure in a 2019 compromise led by the Democratic governor and gun-rights advocates.
Maine’s novel approach has been in the spotlight since the Oct. 25 mass shooting at a Lewiston bowling alley and bar left 18 dead and 13 injured. A state commission released a preliminary report this month that said police had enough probable cause last September to initiate the yellow flag law with shooter Robert Card II, a 40-year-old Army reservist from Bowdoin.
Republicans and other gun control skeptics used that initial commission report to argue Maine’s existing laws are sufficient and should have been used to stop Card before the 40-year-old Army reservist from Bowdoin went on the October rampage in Lewiston. But gun control advocates say the law is cumbersome and is difficult for family members to use.
Red flag laws are in effect in 21 states. Under Talbot Ross’ proposal, a judge could issue an emergency order to seize guns from a person deemed an “imminent and significant danger.”
In a Wednesday statement, the speaker said her new bill will streamline the process and “ensure that those people who are a risk to themselves and others can receive the help they need, while preventing senseless acts of violence.”
Since Mills took office in 2019, she has largely dissuaded her party from pushing strict gun control measures. After the shooting, she called for consensus action on guns, but her proposal would tweak her yellow flag law by making it easier for police to take a person into protective custody. It also would mandate background checks on advertised gun sales.
Spokespeople for Mills did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Talbot Ross’ bill late Wednesday. It was released around the same time as the Judiciary Committee sent several gun measures to the chamber floors, including Mills’ measure and others that would institute 72-hour waiting periods before gun purchases and make other changes.
The independent commission appointed by Mills said the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office had enough probable cause last September to initiate Maine’s existing law after family and peers had warned police of his erratic behavior, access to guns and stated threats to “shoot up” an Army Reserve facility in Saco. Sheriff’s deputies attempted to reach Card at his residence about a month before the mass shooting but left when he did not answer the door.
Under Talbot Ross’ bill, a judge would be able to issue an order to restrict weapons access for up to a year if they find someone to be a danger to themselves or others, or it could deny a petition and share the reasons for doing so. The person facing the weapons restriction order could appeal a judge’s decision or request its termination later on after it takes effect.
Maine’s yellow flag law was used relatively sparingly after it took effect in 2020, but use expanded after a telehealth component was added in 2023. It skyrocketed after the shooting, when it was used 13 times in just over two weeks, including on three people who invoked Card’s name or Lewiston.
The events of the last few months have shown that Maine’s existing law works, said David Trahan, the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, a gun-rights organization that worked with Mills to craft the yellow flag law. He said replacing the law would send a message to groups like his that Democrats are not interested in working across the aisle.
“Some people just can’t get past the national politics of wanting an item on their agenda,” he said.