Volunteers for the Safe Schools, Safe Communities campaign organize petition materials on Oct. 29, 2024. (Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
Vanessa Spires lives half a mile from Schemengees Bar and Grille, one of the locations of the Lewiston mass shooting last fall that left 18 dead and 13 injured. The bar used to be a regular date night spot for Spires and her partner, but she said after the shooting, they don’t go out much anymore, to Schemengees or elsewhere.
If Maine were to pass a “red flag” law, Spires said, “our kids would be safer, and we would be safer.”
The Maine Gun Safety Coalition and allies began collecting signatures on Election Day for a citizen initiative to get this type of law on a future ballot. In one day, about 500 volunteers spread throughout 100 polling locations for the Safe Schools, Safe Communities campaign collected 60,000 signatures.
The total is approaching the total needed to get the initiative on a future ballot, 67,682 (10% of the total votes cast for governor in the Nov. 2022 election).
Maine gun safety advocates launch citizen initiative to pass ‘red flag’ law
The filing deadline for appearing on the November 2025 ballot is 5 p.m. on January 23, 2025 and February 2, 2026 for the November 2026 ballot. Campaign director Stephanie Clifford said the group has yet to decide on which ballot year to aim for but that they’re continuing to collect signatures.
The Safe Schools, Safe Communities campaign formed to pursue a citizen-led path to creating a “red flag” law after the state commission tasked with investigating the Lewiston mass shooting concluded that local law enforcement failed to enforce the state’s current “yellow flag” law, and after the Maine Legislature failed to pass a “red flag” law proposal last session.
The main difference between these types of laws is that under a “red flag” law, officially called Extreme Risk Protection Order, family members can directly petition a judge to temporarily limit someone’s access to firearms when they are in crisis, whereas current Maine statute only permits law enforcement to do so and requires a mental health evaluation before a judge can confiscate someone’s firearms.
Washington, D.C. and 21 states have “red flag” laws, but Maine is the only state with a “yellow flag” version of this type of proactive violence prevention measure.
Several of the people who signed the petition on Election Day told Maine Morning Star their support was a no-brainer, including some who said they don’t typically sign such petitions. The issue also drew several volunteers who hadn’t previously worked on citizen initiatives, including Peggy Duhamel, who was among the 40 or so who helped organize petition packets the week before the election.
“We’re the only country in the world that has this problem, we’re not the only country in the world that has mental illness,” Duhamel said. “People that say, ‘Oh fix mental illness.’ Well it’s a lot easier to control guns than it is to cure mental illness.”
David Moltz, who collected signatures at Deering High School on Election Day, said the “yellow flag” law’s mental health evaluation requirement is stigmatizing.
“It suggests the only cause of gun violence is mental illness,” Moltz said, and excludes people who are a threat but don’t have a mental illness.
Moltz made similar arguments when representing the Maine Association of Psychiatric Physicians in a hearing for a proposed “red flag” law before the Maine Legislature earlier this year. That proposal never made it to the floors of the Senate or House of Representatives for a full vote.
The idea appears to be gaining traction among the public, at least enough to likely get on a future ballot for Maine voters to ultimately decide.
“You say, ‘gun safety’ and people say, ‘yes,’” Moltz said of the response from voters on Tuesday.
That was the case for Portland resident Brianna Pottle when Erin Kiley of Falmouth asked for her signature at the Portland Exposition building. Pottle said there was no question she’d sign the petition.
Final Lewiston commission report concludes multi-agency failures in lead up to shooting
“Guns are a huge issue,” Pottle said. “I don’t feel safe at all.”
As he waited in line to vote, Brad Yates similarly heard Kiley pitching to others, specifically highlighting that it would allow for family member intervention, and was convinced by the time he reached the table.
“Anything they can do to curb the violence is good for me,” Yates said, adding, “I’m all about the democratic process,” referring to the initiative ultimately being decided by voters.
Petition signers were a mix of those who’d already been well aware of the initiative, following the “red flag” proposal since it was considered in the Legislature, as well as people hearing about it for the first time as they exited the polls.
Pottle and Yates fell into the latter camp. Matthew Kurt fell in the former.
Kurt said he hadn’t expected petitioners to be asking for signatures on Tuesday, but he’d heard about the initiative in the news and knew he’d want to sign it if given the opportunity.
“I don’t usually sign these, but this is important,” Kurt said.
Petitioners and signees alike emphasized that the “red flag” law isn’t about taking away all guns.
“This is a hunting state,” said Orono resident Susannah Owen. “I don’t have a problem with that. But I have a problem with the generosity with which people are allowed to have all kinds of different guns that could possibly be used to hurt people.”
For some, gun reform has become a priority after a mass shooting occurred so close to home. For others, it was one of the hundreds of mass shootings that occur each year in the U.S.
Polly Haight Frawley of Cumberland said she’s been supporting reform efforts since 20 first graders and six educators were shot and killed in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.
“I had elementary age children at the time and I remember pulling over at the side of the road and just weeping,” Haight Frawley said. “I couldn’t drive. And from that point on I’ve been active.”
Haight Frawley had previously helped with the citizen initiative to require background checks for gun sales in Maine in 2016, which failed to pass.
Last session, the Maine Legislature considered a number of other gun reform proposals aside from the “red flag” law, which was considered the most ambitious.
For example, a proposal from Gov. Janet Mills passed that expanded background checks to advertised sales. It also modified the state’s yellow flag law, allowing police to get protective custody warrants to use at their discretion to take dangerous people into custody and remove their weapons.
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