Maine Considers Strengthening Gun Control Laws Amid Aftermath of Mass Shooting

Tue Nov 04 2025 18:46:23 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In a significant ballot initiative, Maine residents are voting on a proposal to enhance red flag laws, allowing family members to petition courts to restrict access to firearms for individuals deemed dangerous. This comes in light of the state's deadliest mass shooting, which claimed 18 lives in October 2023.

Maine is voting on a crucial ballot measure to strengthen gun control laws, specifically red flag laws, enabling family intervention in potentially dangerous situations. This initiative follows a tragic mass shooting in Lewiston that highlighted gaps in the current yellow flag law. Key supporters advocate for these changes to prevent future violence, while opponents raise concerns over the effectiveness of such laws in a state with a strong gun culture.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Two years after the deadliest mass shooting in state history, Maine residents are voting on whether to make it easier for family members to petition a court to restrict a potentially dangerous person's access to guns.

A statewide ballot question on Tuesday asks residents if they want to build on the state’s yellow flag law, which allows police officers to initiate a process to keep someone away from firearms. Approval would add Maine to more than 20 states that have a red flag law empowering family members to take the same step.

Gun safety advocates began pushing for a stricter red flag law after 18 people were killed when an Army reservist opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar and grill in Lewiston in October 2023. An independent commission appointed by Maine’s governor later concluded that there were numerous opportunities for intervention by both Army officials and civilian law enforcement.

In the aftermath of the shooting, law enforcement officers testified before the independent commission that they had difficulty implementing the state’s existing yellow flag law, which they described as cumbersome and time-consuming.

Gun control proponents characterized that law as too weak and difficult to implement. The yellow flag law requires police to take the potentially dangerous person into protective custody and hold them for a mental health evaluation.

The campaign in favor of the red flag law released an ad this fall in which Arthur Barnard, father of Lewiston shooting victim Artie Strout, said the stronger law could have saved his son’s life. “People who are having a mental health crisis need help, not easy access to guns,” Barnard said in the ad. “Maine’s laws were too weak to save my son’s life. Vote ‘Yes on 2’ to change that.”

The red flag proposal has encountered resistance from Republicans, hunting groups, gun rights organizations, and some Democrats. Maine is a state with relatively low crime where gun ownership is common, and some believe that the state’s laws should reflect that.

Governor Janet Mills opposes the ballot question, asserting that the yellow flag law was “carefully crafted” for Maine. In an October opinion piece, she stated, “Question 2 would create a new, separate and confusing process that will undermine the effectiveness of the law and endanger public safety along with it.”

The legal aftermath of the Lewiston shooting continues to unfold, with victims' families suing the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense for damages, claiming that the Army failed to prevent the shooter from carrying out his act. A recent Department of Defense report criticized the Army for inadequately reporting violent threats by service members, stating such failures could lead to incidents similar to those caused by the shooter, Robert Card.