Less than a week after holding a press conference praising themselves for running a paid signature effort that gathered a qualifying number of signatures to put an extreme Red Flag referendum on the 2025 ballot, Maine's rabid anti-gun lobby was just dealt a major blow.
In her State of the State Address, Governor Janet Mills (D-Maine), blasted the Red Flag referendum, saying it "would directly undermine" Maine's current laws. Losing Governor Mills, the most prominent Democrat in Maine, is sending a ripple effect through the political arena, with other prominent Democrats likely to publicly oppose the ballot question in the coming weeks and months.
While it appears that this opposition has caught the so-called "Maine Gun Safety Coalition" off-guard, bipartisan opposition to this radical California-style gun control should come as no surprise to NRA members. As noted in a recent NRA op-ed in the Portland Press Herald, firearm rights in Maine are a bipartisan issue. As stated in the op-ed:
"The power of the gun lobby does not lie in lawyers and lobbyists but rather in the massive number of Americans who proudly fight to protect their Second Amendment rights. Maine is home to over 670,000 firearm owners. These Mainers come from all walks of life and live in all areas of the state. Republican, Democrat, rich, poor, young, or old, no single demographic defines the massive voting block of law-abiding gun owners in Maine. Now more than ever, gun rights supporters are playing an active role in protecting their constitutional rights. Pro-gun candidates saw major electoral wins, while vulnerable incumbent politicians who sided with Michael Bloomberg's gun control lobby lost their seats. This should come as no surprise, as a recent NRA study highlighted that the highest density of Maine gun owners reside in Maine’s tightest political districts.
This diverse coalition has created a unique political force that crosses party lines and demands policies based on facts, not rhetoric. This has resulted in a bipartisan group of lawmakers who have effectively blocked a slew of California-style gun control that would do nothing but disarm law-abiding Mainers.”
Maine's bipartisan coalition of lawmakers has successfully held off a slew of anti-gun legislation. In fact, the Red Flag law proposed by the Maine Gun Safety Coalition was so unpopular on both sides of the aisle, it failed to even receive a floor vote in 2024.
While the gun-grabbers have stumbled out of the gate, their access to an unlimited war chest funded by Michael Bloomberg and his anti-gun allies means that gun rights supporters must continue to work diligently to defeat this dangerous ballot referendum. NRA members are urged to contact their lawmakers NOW by clicking the TAKE ACTION button below and request that they oppose Red Flag laws in Maine.
Please continue to check your inbox and NRA-ILA for updates concerning your Second Amendment rights and hunting heritage.
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