SAS Executive Director advocates for expansion of Red Flag laws in New England
Maine voters don’t have to look far to see how a red flag law, like the one they’ll have a chance
to weigh in on via a statewide referendum this November, would work.
Connecticut was the first state in the nation to adopt such a law in 1999. Massachusetts, Rhode
Island and Vermont all followed in 2018.
Those four New England states are among 21 that now allow for quick intervention when a person in possession of firearms is at risk of harming themselves or others. The laws give police, and in
many cases family or household members, the chance to ask a court to temporarily remove a person’s guns and prohibit them from buying new ones.
Supporters of referendum Question 2 in Maine believe it will reduce suicides and give families a
way to help loved ones who could be in danger. Opponents say it lacks due process and violates 2nd Amendment rights.
The two sides have been at odds since the 2023 Lewiston mass shooting called into question the
efficacy of Maine’s existing gun laws and renewed a push from gun safety advocates for a stricter
version that would be easier to invoke.
Maine is the only state that has a more moderate yellow flag law, which requires police to take a
person into custody and have them undergo a mental health evaluation before their weapons can be removed. It’s an extra step that red flag states don’t require.
Police, prosecutors and advocates in other New England states say these laws are a good tool for
deescalating potentially dangerous situations, even if they are not used on a widespread basis.
Critics argue that they lack due process and are a violation of Americans’ 2nd Amendment rights,
though an expert on gun violence prevention said they have generally withstood legal
challenges.
WHO CAN USE THE RED FLAG LAW?
Connecticut was the first state in the country to adopt a red flag law, and uses it far more than
any other New England state. The law had been used 1,325 times this year as of the end of August,
and was used 1,841 times in 2024, according to data from the Connecticut Judicial Branch.
“It’s effective,” said Louis Fusaro, president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association and
chief of police in Groton, Connecticut. “The intent is to help prevent needless occurrences of
violence. The people who know the most about these individuals aren’t necessarily the police, it’s
the people that are closest to them — their family members and medical providers. If they find
something that alerts them … it is effective in avoiding that danger.”
While the general concept of red flag laws, also known as extreme risk protection orders, is
consistent state-to-state, there is some variation, with one of the biggest differences being who
is allowed to use the law.
Some states limit use to police only. Others, like Connecticut, also allow family or household
members and medical professionals to petition the court. Maine’s proposal would allow the process to be initiated by either law enforcement or family or household members.
Supporters say that allowing family members to access the process is one of the biggest benefits
when compared with the state’s yellow flag law, which can only be used by police.
WHY DO NEARBY STTES USE RED FLAG LAWS SO RARELY?
Still, red flag laws are not widely used in a majority of the New England states that have them.
Spencer Cantrell, an assistant scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions in
Baltimore, said the frequency of these orders can vary greatly by state depending on what other gun laws are in place, ownership rates and gun culture.
Massachusetts, for example, has some of the strongest firearm laws in the country, according to the gun safety advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. That includes a law that allows police to
suspend firearms licenses — thus requiring a person to turn over their guns — if they have cause
for concern, said Michael Bradley, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police
Association.
In 2024, Massachusetts used its red flag law just 24 times, up from 11 in 2023 – a small number in
a state of 7 million people. But Bradley said his state’s use is low because police can instead
just suspend someone’s license.
“It predates (the red flag law) and we have that ability, so it’s something that historically,
we’ve done for many years,” Bradley said.
Maine does not require all gun owners to be licensed, so it would be challenging to implement that
here, said a spokesperson for the Maine Office of the Attorney General.
David Trahan, executive director of the Sportsmen’s Alliance of Maine, a leading opponent of the
red flag proposal, pointed to Massachusetts’ low utilization as an indicator it doesn’t work.
“They have a better law than red flag in Massachusetts, and they use it effectively,” Trahan said.
“That tells me that red flag in Massachusetts is a failure.” Bradley said the law can be useful for family members who are concerned about a loved one and who may not want to go to police, though it’s unclear how many people are aware of it.
“I think we need to wait and see what the data reveals in the future,” he said. “If you think about
2024, there were only 24 applications statewide. It’s a very small number in comparison to the
population.”
Authorities in Vermont have also used that state’s red flag law sparingly — just 36 times both in
2024 and 2023, up from 13 times in 2022, according to data from the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs.
Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island were all among a wave of states that adopted red flag laws after the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in February 2018 that killed 17 students and staff.
The Vermont legislation was also inspired by the case of a local teenager who plotted to carry out
a school massacre the same year, spurring lawmakers to act quickly to pass the law, which was
signed by Republican Gov. Phil Scott.
“I absolutely believe we have prevented fatal self-harm and harm directed at others from happening because of this law and the filings we’ve done,” said Tim Lueders-Dumont, executive director of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs.
WHY IS YELLOW FLAG USED SO MUCH MORE?
Maine recently surpassed more than 1,000 weapon seizure orders under its yellow flag law, something that state officials and red flag opponents have pointed to as evidence that the current approach is working.
“The law is preventing suicide and other violent behavior; it puts the responsibility for
protecting public safety squarely on public officials, without putting the responsibility on family
members, neighbors, bystanders or other private citizens,” Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat who is opposed to the November ballot measure, said in a written statement last month.
It’s only recently that use of Maine’s yellow flag law has accelerated. Prior to the Lewiston
shooting, which killed 18 people and wounded 13, it was used only 81 times from the time it took
effect in 2020 to the October 2023 shooting.
A state commission that investigated the shooting found that it could have been used to prevent the killings but wasn’t, and the law’s use by police has since skyrocketed.
“It doesn’t surprise me, given what happened in Lewiston, that folks are trying to utilize a tool
that they have,” said Lueders-Dumont, the Vermont official. “The other piece is, sometimes it takes
a really alarming event to highlight the tools that you have.”
Organizers of November’s referendum say they believe a red flag law would also be widely used in
Maine, and said the number of times the existing version has been used is an indicator a stronger
law is needed.
“No matter how many times the yellow flag law is used, it existed when the Lewiston shooting
happened and it didn’t prevent it,” said Jack Sorensen, a spokesperson for the Question 2 campaign. “Sure there are probably a lot of folks scrambling to respond and make better use of the law now, but it doesn’t mean it’s a more effective tool or change the underlying weaknesses in it.”
MAINE OPPONENTS CITE BURDEN OF PROOF
Opponents in Maine worry a family member could bring false or erroneous accusations under a new red flag law. And they say the legal standard for the judge to make a decision is too low.
The proposal would allow the court to grant a temporary order based on “good cause” that the person in question poses a significant risk to themselves or others. It also could issue a final order — allowing for confiscation of weapons for up to one year — based on a “preponderance of the
evidence,” which is a lower evidentiary standard than the bar of “clear and convincing evidence” in
the existing yellow flag law.
“We will never accept the fact that the government ought to be easily able to take your rights
away, whether it’s gun rights or any other right,” said Trahan, from the Sportsmen’s Alliance of
Maine. “That’s what this is going to come down to in this debate, is whether the population of
Maine is comfortable giving the government the power to take away your liberty, your freedom using such a low due process standard.”
David Trahan, executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, on a trail during an event
at the Outdoor Education Center in October. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
Organizers of the referendum said the standards in the red flag proposal are in line with what the
state already requires for protection from abuse orders.
New Jersey has the same standards as Maine’s proposal, with a “good cause” burden of proof required to remove weapons short term and a “preponderance of the evidence” burden for a longer
confiscation, according to data from the Center for Gun Violence Solutions.
In general, Cantrell, from Johns Hopkins, said red flag laws have withstood legal challenges around
the U.S. In 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court also ruled in the case of United States v. Rahimithat the
right to bear arms could be limited when an individual poses a known risk.
While that case pertained to firearms possession under a domestic violence restraining order, the
decision has been interpreted to apply to other temporary firearms prohibitions, including red flag
laws.
“This is on firm legal footing,” Cantrell said.
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