On November 4, Maine voters voted decisively in favor of a new red flag law, with 62 percent of Mainers voting yes. The law, currently in effect in 22 states and the District of Columbia, is a type of gun control that allows law enforcement to temporarily remove an individual’s firearms if they are in a mental health crisis, by allowing family and neighbors to report those behaviors to law enforcement.

The city of Lewiston, the site of the 2023 Lewiston mass shooting, has traditionally been considered a battleground for conservatives, including last year in the 2024 Presidential election, where Former Vice President Kamala won with a slim eight percent lead. broke this tradition in 2025, voting overwhelmingly for question two with 68 percent of residents voting in favor. In an interview with WMTW, Sweetser psychiatrist Dr. Marc Kaplan said, “This was an extraordinary trauma that was experienced by the whole community. Not just Democrats, not just Republicans, everybody,”

Governor Janet Mills (D-ME) has thirty days to certify the results of the referendum.