WASHINGTON — Maine voters approved a ballot measure on Tuesday that would allow family or household members to directly petition the courts to temporarily prohibit a person from having dangerous weapons if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others.

Known as a “red flag law,” it would replace Maine’s current law, which requires police to take someone into protective custody, initiating a case that eventually ends up before a judge. It went into effect in 2020.

The ballot measure was initiated by citizens in the legislative session that followed a 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston, which killed 18 people and injured 13 others. The Associated Press declared the measure passed at 9:55 p.m. EST.

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