AUGUSTA, Maine (WMTW) – The Maine Gun Safety Coalition is working to collect signatures to put an extreme risk protection order, or red flag law, on the ballot for voters to decide.

The organization says the legislature hasn’t done enough to pass common sense gun laws, so they’re taking it to a citizen referendum.

“The vast majority of Maine residents want common sense measures to prevent gun violence, and lawmakers have yet to catch up with the population,” said Nacole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition.

Maine currently has a yellow flag law that was CURED following the Lewiston shooting, to allow law enforcement officers to obtain a warrant signed by a judge in an unusual circumstance so that a person can be taken into protective custody.

Palmer says the law doesn’t go far enough because families can’t trigger the law.

“Extreme Risk Protection Order Empowers Families; it empowers families to go straight to court if they believe their loved one is in crisis or a threat,” Palmer added.

“The other side is misleading the public,” said David Trahan, executive director of the Maine Sportsmen’s Alliance. “Families Can Participate in Maine’s Yellow Flag Process.”

Conformable Maine state lawthe yellow flag law allows a family member or loved one to notify law enforcement if they believe someone is a threat to themselves or others. Then law enforcement can continue the process of removing the weapons from the home.

A red flag law would allow family members to bring their concerns to a judge in the same way the state’s protection against abuse order is handled.

Therefore, family involvement is permitted in both versions of the extreme risk protection order.

Trahan disagrees with the gun safety coalition. He says the state’s yellow flag law is more effective than the red flag law.

“Our law is much more effective and it will actually be dangerous to replace it or replace it with a weaker law,” he said.

The Maine Gun Safety Coalition has already collected 60,000 signatures. It takes 67,682, according to the secretary of state’s office, to get on the ballot. Palmer says her goal is 75,000 signatures.

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