Sagadahoc County begins enforcing Maine’s red flag law allowing family petitions

Maine’s voter-approved “red flag” law took effect the weekend of Feb. 21, 2026, opening a new pathway for family members or household members to petition a court for an extreme risk protection order to remove firearms from someone deemed at risk. The measure was Question 2 on the November 2025 ballot and will operate alongside Maine’s existing yellow flag law.

WGME’s reporting sets the statutory standard: a court may issue an order if an individual poses a “significant danger of causing physical injury to themselves or another person by having access to a dangerous weapon.” WGME also reported that law enforcement will continue to be able to file petitions under the new statute in addition to family filings.

The new statute allows an emergency order of “up to two weeks” before an official ruling and permits ERPOs to be “renewed every year if deemed necessary,” WGME reported. By contrast, the current yellow flag law limits petitions to law enforcement and requires a medical evaluation of the subject before a petition proceeds, and yellow-flag ERPOs last one year.

Implementation details were not settled as the law went live. Emily Bader of the Maine Monitor reported from Augusta that the Maine Department of Public Safety had not finalized its procedures, the state courts were still creating the forms people will need to start a red flag process, and the group representing police chiefs had not organized training for law enforcement. Bader noted the statute was technically effective on Dec. 18 but “inoperative” until Feb. 21 because it relies on funding in the governor’s supplemental budget, and she quoted the governor: “The governor has said her upcoming supplemental budget will provide the funding necessary to implement the law.” The Maine Monitor excerpt also included the phrase “pumpkins and a note at a memorial site.”

Supporters and opponents framed the change differently in WGME’s coverage: supporters say “this is a better way of keeping guns away from people who shouldn't have them,” while opponents argue “the law is unnecessary and could potentially restrict a person's constitutional rights.”

State reporting supplied no Sagadahoc-specific details about local preparations or statements from Sagadahoc County officials. County courts will rely on the judicial forms the state is preparing, and local law enforcement will be affected by whatever procedures the Maine Department of Public Safety and the chiefs’ association distribute once funded and finalized.

Practical operation of the law in Sagadahoc will hinge on three outstanding items identified in state reporting: the governor’s supplemental budget providing implementation funds, final DPS procedures, and the Judicial Branch posting filing forms and instructions. Once funding and forms are in place, family-filed ERPO petitions under the Question 2 pathway can be processed alongside the existing yellow flag petitions in Sagadahoc County courts.