Two years after the deadliest mass shooting in state history, Maine residents are voting on whether to make it easier for family members to petition a court to restrict a potentially dangerous person’s access to guns.

A statewide ballot question Tuesday asks residents if they want to build on the state’s yellow flag law, which allows police officers to initiate a process to keep someone away from firearms.

Approval by voters would add Maine to more than 20 states that have a red flag law empowering family members to take the same step.

Gun safety advocates began pushing for a stricter red flag law after 18 people were killed when an Army reservist opened fire at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston in October 2023.

In the aftermath of the shooting, law enforcement officers testified before an independent commission that they had difficulty implementing the state’s existing yellow flag law.

The law requires police to take the potentially dangerous person into protective custody and hold them for a mental health evaluation.

The red flag proposal has encountered resistance from Republicans, hunting groups, gun rights organizations and some Democrats.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, opposed the ballot question. She said in October that the yellow flag law was “carefully crafted” with Maine in mind, and it remains the right law for the state.