Last week voters in Maine overwhelmingly approved the establishment of a “red flag” law allowing police to temporarily seize legally owned firearms from anyone subject to an Extreme Risk Protection Order. The “red flag” referendum was opposed by Second Amendment groups, Gov. Janet Mills, and most Republican officials, but opponents were outspent almost 10-to-1 by backers of the gun control measure.
Now that the ERPO process will soon be the law of the land, several law enforcement groups are warning of the dangers and problems to come.
“We respect the outcome of this election. But our position has not changed,” Joe Bureau, president of the Maine State Troopers Association, said in a statement. “Question 2 expands government authority to seize firearms in ways that risk violating constitutional safeguards and create confusion in the field — for both citizens and officers.”
Mike Edes, executive director of the Maine Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police, said Maine’s “yellow flag” law “has worked” and the voter approved changes puts the public and law enforcement officers at risk.
“It protects rights while allowing swift intervention when there’s a genuine threat,” Edes said. “The new law eliminates key guardrails that kept both citizens and officers safe.”
So where the heck were these groups before Election Day? Did either the Maine State Troopers Association or the state’s FOP lodge spend a dime opposing the “red flag” law? Did they hold press conferences or pen op-eds to lay out their arguments for keeping the state’s “yellow flag” law in place?
As you might expect, I followed both sides of the referendum pretty closely, and this is the first time that I recall any law enforcement group getting coverage for their position on the “red flag” law. That’s not to say these groups didn’t put out press releases or statements on their own, but if they did they certainly weren’t amplified by the local media in the weeks before Election Day. If someone who covers 2A issues on a daily basis was unaware of their stance, my guess is the vast majority of Maine voters were clueless about where these groups stand as well.
Paul Gaspar, executive director of the Maine Association of Police, said the coalition is urging lawmakers to “closely monitor” the law’s rollout and to address any “unintended” consequences.
“Law enforcement officers will always uphold the law and protect our communities. But we also have a duty to speak up when new policies compromise safety or constitutional rights,” he said. “The passage of Question 2 doesn’t end the conversation — it begins a new responsibility to ensure Maine’s laws are both effective and just.”
Good luck with that. We’ve detailed the problems with Extreme Risk Protection Orders ad nauseam and I won’t get into the weeds now, but suffice it to say that when even supporters of the process claim that one suicide is prevented for every 13 to 23 ERPO petitions that are approved it’s clear that “red flag” laws aren’t effective. Stripping someone of a fundamental civil right without due process, meanwhile, is never just, but that’s what the ERPO law allows.
Now that the “red flag” law is in place it’s going to be extremely difficult to get rid of it, and though the “yellow flag” law that requires a mental health evaluation is still on the books its not likely to be used much at all.
I’m glad that these groups are speaking out against the state’s newest gun control measure, but honestly, these orgs could have done a lot more to spread the news that they were firmly opposed to the “red flag” referendum before voters headed to the polls.
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