A man walks by flowers and a sign of support for the community on Oct. 28, 2023, in the wake of the mass shootings in Lewiston. Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press

A national gun safety advocacy group has upgraded its rating of Maine laws following a historic legislative session in which lawmakers passed expanded background checks and a 72-hour waiting period on gun purchases in the wake of the mass shooting in Lewiston.

The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence released its annual gun law scorecard for states around the country on Tuesday. The center gave Maine a C-plus, which is an improvement from last year’s D-minus rating and made Maine the most improved state.

“Following the tragic mass shooting at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine enacted important improvements to its gun laws,” the scorecard said. “However, there are still basic gun safety measures which are missing, putting Mainers at grave risk.”

The new rating comes as lawmakers are preparing for the next legislative session to start in January, and as gun safety and gun rights’ advocates are gearing up for a slate of new proposals, including the possibility of a renewed push for a red flag law.

Following the mass shooting that left 18 people dead and 13 others injured last year, lawmakers expanded background check requirements to include private, advertised sales and implemented a 72-hour waiting period on gun purchases.

They also updated the state’s yellow flag law to make it easier for police to take someone into protective custody in a step toward restricting their access to weapons, and set aside millions of dollars for mental health and violence prevention programs.

The budget passed by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Janet Mills in April included funding for establishing an Office of Violence Prevention at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, an expansion of crisis receiving centers to help people experiencing mental health or substance use crisis, and additional money for the mental health assessments that are part of the yellow flag law, among other things.

Still, the state still lacks fully universal background checks for gun purchases and a red flag law that would give family members, in addition to law enforcement, a path toward restricting access to weapons without a mental health evaluation for a person in crisis.

“Additionally, Maine passed a reckless permit-less carry law in 2015 that allows residents to carry loaded, concealed handguns in public without a permit or background check,” the scorecard said.

WILL LAWMAKERS TAKE UP MORE GUN BILLS?

Gun safety was a major topic of this year’s Legislature as lawmakers were met with public demands for action in the wake of the Lewiston shooting.

While it remains to be seen exactly what initiatives will be taken up in the coming year, the Maine Gun Safety Coalition is trying to get a citizen’s initiative for a red flag law before voters, and said last month that it was close to getting the necessary number of signatures needed.

As of Wednesday, Maine Gun Safety Coalition Executive Director Nacole Palmer said the coalition was about 7,500 signatures short of its goal of 75,000, which is higher than the 67,682 signatures needed from registered voters to force the Legislature to either pass the law or send it to a statewide referendum. The signatures are due to the Maine Department of the Secretary of State by Jan. 23 in order for the question to make the November 2025 ballot.

In addition to its work on a red flag proposal, the coalition will be advocating in the coming legislative session for a ban on bump stocks, a ban on ghost guns — the untraceable firearms like the one used in the shooting of the United Healthcare CEO earlier this month — and a new secure storage law to prevent firearm accidents and teen suicides.

There are lawmakers sponsoring bills for each of those initiatives, but they are not ready to be named publicly, Palmer said in an email.

Sen. Anne Carney, D-Cape Elizabeth, sponsored a bill last session that would ban bump stocks and other rapid fire devices. The bill passed the Legislature but was vetoed by Mills, who noted that a federal regulation banning bump stocks was being challenged at the time and said there was ambiguity in the bill.

In response to questions about whether she plans to reintroduce the bill this year, Carney said in an email that she would wait until after cloture — the deadline lawmakers have to file bills — on Jan. 10 to talk about any legislation she will sponsor.

Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, who sponsored a proposal for a red flag bill last session when she served as House speaker, did not respond to a phone message or email asking if she plans to reintroduce the bill or similar legislation.

Laura Whitcomb, president of Gun Owners of Maine, a group dedicated to gun rights, said she fully expects red flag legislation to be introduced again this session.

Gun Owners of Maine and other red flag opponents argued last session that the proposal that was before lawmakers didn’t provide enough due process protections for the accused and that the mass shooting in Lewiston could have been prevented with the state’s existing yellow flag law, which wasn’t used.

“If anything, we would like to see a roll back of some of the changes in Gov. Mills’ legislation from last year, such as the expanded background checks and giving law enforcement twice as much time to infringe on people’s rights,” Whitcomb said, referring to changes made to the yellow flag law to extend the amount of time in which a hearing on a weapons restriction may be held.

“We think the current state of things includes too much infringement on people’s rights, so there’s really no room for compromising (on a red flag proposal),” Whitcomb said.

Democrats, who control both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s office, spearheaded gun safety and gun control legislation last session while Republicans emphasized investments in mental health in the wake of the Lewiston shooting.

Spokespeople for Mills and Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, did not respond to phone messages and emails Wednesday asking what if any proposals for gun legislation they or other Democrats might bring forward this year.

House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, did not offer any specifics for potential bills but said in a written statement that there “will absolutely be legislative proposals surrounding firearms coming this session.”

“I know that like all bills, they will be thoughtfully considered in committee, and I will be closely following that work,” Fecteau said. “People deserve to feel safe in their communities, and addressing gun violence is one of the key ways we can increase safety for Maine people.”