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4w ago

Maine Voters Approve Family-Initiated Red Flag Gun Law

Passing by roughly 59 percent, the measure takes effect in January to let relatives seek court orders temporarily removing guns.

FILE — Rain soaked memorials for those who died in a mass shooting sit along the roadside by Schemengees Bar & Grille, Oct. 30, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
A sign opposing a gun control referendum in Kennebunk, Maine, on Oct. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Patrick Whittle)
FILE - A make-shift memorial lines Main Street following a deadly mass shooting in Maine, Nov. 3, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
A sign promoting a gun control referendum in Scarborough, Maine, on Oct. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Patrick Whittle)

Overview

  • The referendum, Question 2, passed by about 58–60 percent, making Maine the 22nd state with a red flag statute.
  • Unlike the police-led yellow flag process, the new system lets family or household members petition a judge directly for temporary firearm restrictions.
  • Gov. Janet Mills and several police groups opposed the ballot question, but Mills said she will work to implement it alongside the existing yellow flag law.
  • The Maine Judicial Branch says it is still determining implementation and whether petition and outcome data will be tracked and published.
  • Legal challenges are anticipated even as a similar law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year, and lawsuits by Lewiston survivors against the Army and DoD continue following findings of missed intervention opportunities.