Maine lawmakers to consider late ‘red flag’ proposal after state’s deadliest shooting

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine lawmakers racing toward adjournment are going to consider a so-called “red flag” law allowing family members to petition a judge for temporary removal of guns, thanks to an a 11th-hour bill introduced by the house leader.

House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, a Democrat, said it’s important to reconsider the previously rejected proposal after a gunman killed 18 people last fall amid signs of deteriorating mental health. A competing bill by the Democratic governor would strengthen the state’s existing crisis intervention tool, a so-called “yellow flag” law.

The new proposal, introduced three weeks before lawmakers adjourn, would allow family members to go directly to a judge to request that someone’s guns be removed during a psychiatric crisis.

The state’s current law requires police to start the process by taking someone into protective custody, initiating a case that eventually ends up before a judge. It went into effect in 2020 as a compromise, aimed at simplifying the process by letting police handle it, and an independent commission said it should’ve been used with the Lewiston gunman.

The speaker acknowledged the 11th-hour nature of her proposal but said her constituents have demanded it.

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