Overview

• Question 2 on Nov. 4 would allow family or household members to petition a judge directly for an extreme risk protection order without a prior mental-health evaluation.
• Maine’s existing yellow-flag law requires police to take a person into protective custody, obtain a mental-health assessment, and then seek a court order to remove weapons.
• Gov. Janet Mills and the Maine State Police urge a No vote, arguing the yellow-flag system is effective, safer to enforce when a person is already in custody, and better protects due process.
• Backers led by the Maine Gun Safety Coalition and supported by psychiatric physicians say a red-flag option could act faster and might have addressed risks in the Lewiston case, noting many perpetrators lack diagnosed mental illness.
• If approved, Maine would add a red-flag pathway alongside the yellow-flag law, with both routes available for seeking weapon-removal orders.