Former Arizona Congresswoman and current gun control activist Gabby Giffords is looking for late-game donations to convince Mainers to support the red-flag ballot referendum set for consideration next month.
[RELATED: Mills Doubles Down on Opposition to Red-Flag Referendum in Op-Ed for Portland Paper…]
“This November, Maine voters will have the opportunity to vote on a measure to save lives and keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. But with just a few weeks left, the gun lobby is spending big to stop this from passing,” said Giffords in an email.
“My friends at ‘Safe Schools, Safe Communities’ are working tirelessly to reach voters in this final stretch, but they need more grassroots support to stand up against the gun lobby’s spending,” she added.
Mainers will have an opportunity to weigh in on “red-flag” gun control laws through ballot question 2 in November, and gun control groups have worked to convince Mainers to support the referendum.
Now, Giffords, who left Congress after she was shot during a failed assassination attempt, has joined Maine gun-control advocates in the push for red-flag laws while invoking the tragic 2023 Lewiston shooting.
“In just a few days, we are about to mark the two-year anniversary of the devastating shooting in Lewiston, Maine. It should have been a fun night for families at the bowling alley and friends at a bar. Instead, this night of fun turned into a night of terror,” she said.
“It does not have to be this way. We can decide when we have seen enough. And luckily, we have a huge opportunity to make a difference right now,” she added.
She is requesting donations to be split between her national Giffords PAC and the local Safe Schools Safe Communities organization, pushing Mainers to vote “Yes on 2.”
She warned that supporters of the new gun control measures need to raise more money to compete with the “gun lobby.”
According to the Maine Ethics Commission, ballot question committees opposed to the red-flag referendum have expended $30,037 as of September 30.
In contrast, the Maine Ethics Commission page for Safe Schools Safe Communities expended $322,019.72 as of September 2025 alone, though they are listed as an organization supporting a failed red-flag bill rather than the referendum up for consideration in November.
The referendum would serve as a significant expansion of the already existing “yellow flag” laws, which allow a judge to order firearms removed from someone upon request from law enforcement following a mental health evaluation.
Red-flag laws would allow family members to request firearms to be removed and would eliminate the requirement for a mental health evaluation, making it significantly easier to remove people’s Second Amendment rights. Even Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) has voiced her opposition to the ballot question.
