Republicans in the Maine Senate tried but failed Thursday night to force Democrats to hold a public hearing on a controversial "red flag" gun law proposal.

Maine voters will decide this November whether to enact a "red flag" law that would allow family members to ask a judge to order someone to temporarily surrender their guns. Republicans and gun owners' rights groups are pointing to a state law that says that lawmakers must hold a public hearing on ballot initiatives unless two-thirds of both chambers of the Legislature vote to waive the requirement.

But the Democrats who lead the Legislature's Judiciary Committee — Sen. Anne Carney of Cape Elizabeth and Rep. Amy Kuhn of Falmouth — have said that Maine's Constitution does not require a hearing during the citizen initiative process. A

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