MGSC Launches Initiative for ERPO

FOR RELEASE: Jan. 23, 2025

Contact: press@safecommunitiesmaine.org

Extreme Risk Protection Orders Initiative Headed to 2025 Ballot

Supporters of the Safe Schools, Safe Communities Campaign Collected More Than 80,000 Signatures in Two Months

Mainers to Vote on Gun Safety Initiative in November 2025

PORTLAND – This morning the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, supporters and volunteers turned in more than 80,000 signatures in support of the Safe Schools, Safe Communities initiative campaign, which means an Extreme Risk Protection Orders initiative will appear on the ballot in 2025.

The Maine Gun Safety Coalition launched the Safe Schools, Safe Communities signature gathering drive on Nov. 5, 2024 after lawmakers failed to pass an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law last session. In just over two months, more than 600 volunteers gathered 80,000 signatures to qualify, including signatures from voters in every county. The campaign plans to take the initiative to the November 2025 ballot.

“Maine citizens have waited long enough,” said Nacole Palmer, Executive Director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition (MGSC). “We can’t afford to wait another year – for another tragedy – until we put this measure on the ballot to save lives and keep our kids and communities safe. I’m so proud of the work our small-but-mighty campaign team, powered by hundreds of volunteers, was able to accomplish in such a short time.”

Extreme Risk Protection Orders empower family members to directly petition a court when a loved one is in crisis and may pose a threat to themselves or others. Through due process, a judge can temporarily limit someone’s access to deadly weapons. Under an ERPO law, both family members and law enforcement have more tools to intervene quickly before a crisis becomes a tragedy. 

“Nothing will bring back my son, but this common-sense measure could help prevent any other parent from ever having to experience what I have, and that’s worth it,” said Arthur Barnard, one of the citizen sponsors and father of Artie Strout, who was killed in the Lewiston shooting. “It’s time for voters to have their say. And while any victory in this effort, for me, is bittersweet, I’m proud to be here today as we send this measure to the ballot, and I’m confident that Mainers will do the right thing. We know we can respect people’s right to own guns and also do more to keep our kids and our communities safe.”

In the case of the tragedy in Lewiston, multiple people close to the would-be shooter warned that he was in crisis and may pose a threat – none of those warnings resulted in action, which the Lewiston Commission report attributed to Maine’s burdensome, slow, and inefficient ‘yellow flag’ law, the only one of its kind in the country. 

Firearms are now the leading cause of death for American children and teens. ERPO laws exist in 21 other states and Washington, D.C., where they’ve been used effectively to disarm people who have threatened mass shootings, including school shootings. 

“When I started teaching kindergarten in 1985 I never would have fathomed that I’d be doing active shooter drills with my students one day. By the time I retired in 2020 what was once unfathomable had become commonplace,” said retired teacher Cathy Harris, another of the Safe Schools, Safe Communities citizen sponsors. “When I think about my grandchildren going to school in a few years I can’t help but worry about what could happen to them. It is every parent and every teacher’s nightmare. We can all agree that we should take every step we can to protect our children.”

Additionally, ERPOs have been proven effective in reducing incidents of suicide – the leading cause of firearm death in Maine, especially among men.

“As a physician in the ER at the largest level one trauma center in Maine, I see the impacts of gun violence come through the doors on a regular basis,” said Dr. Tony Owens, an emergency medicine physician. “Gun violence is a public health crisis, and while no single policy will solve it, Extreme Risk Protection Orders will help save lives. As a hunter and gun enthusiast, and as someone who has seen the devastating impacts of gun violence in both my professional and personal life, it’s time we pass this common-sense gun safety measure.”