bearingarms.com By Cam Edwards
I’ll state right up front that I doubt that’s the case, and I’m sure if you asked the politicians and stakeholders who crafted the “yellow flag” law back in 2019 they’d scoff at the idea that their legislation was intentionally crafted with a very big flaw, but I can’t help but wonder given the recent findings of the state’s Deadly Force Review Panel. The board, which is required to annually review all officer-involved shootings in the state, says that Maine’s version of an Extreme Risk Protection Order isn’t being utilized by police; not because they’re unaware of the law or have concerns about its constitutionality, but because the law is too difficult to implement for many jurisdictions.
It creates a process for police to temporarily take guns away from people who are in danger of hurting themselves or others. Unlike other states with similar laws, Maine requires a medical practitioner to sign off on the request. That provision was key to broad legislative support for the bill in 2019 and has been touted by Maine politicians, but police have said they are often unable to use the law because the state doesn’t have a system to conduct evaluations remotely. State officials said last year that they were working on a telehealth option.
The panel found that 79% of the cases reviewed involved police shooting a person with a firearm.
“The Panel understands that the protection of substantial threat statute is not being used on a regular and responsive basis often because of the lack of an available medical practitioner to complete an assessment,” the report says. “The Panel urges the provision of expanded education and information regarding the use of protective custody and collaboration with behavioral health providers, and the use of telehealth assessment options for weapons restriction assessments available to law enforcement, especially in rural areas.”
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