Maine to introduce red flag laws two years after shooting
The US state of Maine will join over 20 other states in introducing a red flag law in response to a shooting two years ago. Two years ago, the state saw its deadliest shooting, and Maine residents have now voted to make it easier for family members to petition a court to limit a potentially dangerous person’s access to guns.
A ballot asked residents if they wanted to build on its existing yellow flag law, which allowed police officers to begin a process to keep someone from owning guns. Now, Maine joins over twenty other states in introducing a red flag law which allows family members to do the same.
Calls for a change began after 18 people were killed when an army reservist opened fire at a bowling alley and bar and grill in October 2023. An independent commission found that there had been previous chances to intervention from both army officials and civil law enforcement.
In the aftermath, officers testified at an independent commission that they had difficulty implementing the existing yellow flag law, calling it cumbersome and time consuming.
Gun control advocates also criticised the yellow flag law, calling it too weak and difficult to implement. It would require police to take a potentially dangerous person into protective custody and hold them for a mental health evaluation.
The campaign to change the law released an ad which featured Arthur Barnard, the father of shooting victim Artie Stout, saying that the law could have saved his son’s life.
The proposal met with opposition from Republicans, hunting groups, gun rights organisations, and even some Democrats. Maine is a state with a relatively low crime rate and high gun ownership. Opponents of the law said that the state’s laws should reflect that.
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