Gun safety advocates will descend on the State House Wednesday to demand action following the deadly Oct. 25 massacre that claimed 18 lives and wounded 13 in Lewiston.

The Maine Gun Safety Coalition is organizing a “Day of Action” to coincide with the first day of the new legislative session when all legislators return to Augusta for roughly four months of work.

“We are heartbroken about the shootings in Lewiston, as is the rest of Maine,” said Nacole Palmer, executive director of the coalition. “We will support families, friends and survivors and support legislators who are beginning their vital work to improve Maine’s very weak gun laws.”

Ten days after the Lewiston shootings, the coalition stood outside the State House with four demands — an assault weapons ban, a red flag law, a 72-hour waiting period to buy a gun and background checks on all gun sales.

The debate over whether Maine should change its gun laws in the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in state history is likely to be a dominant theme of the short legislative session. Lawmakers will also need to amend the state budget and attend to hundreds of bills on topics as varied as tribal rights, child welfare, data privacy and a statewide ban on flavored tobacco.

Earlier this year, lawmakers rejected some of the gun control measures put forward by the coalition — including the 72-hour waiting period and the expansion of background checks to cover private sales.

Following the Lewiston shootings, Gov. Janet Mills vowed to take action, but offered no specifics, saying she wanted to convene a group of stakeholders to find the best path forward.

In a statement Thursday, Mills’ spokesman Ben Goodman said the governor continues to meet with stakeholders and “believes action is needed.”

“What that action will be must be the product of a broad discussion among a diverse group of voices, including lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, public safety officials, public health officials, members of the judicial system, and advocates on all sides, among others,” he said.

Goodman also indicated that Mills is “not taking any option off the table.”

From the perspective of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, options should include some tweaks to the state’s “yellow flag” law, additional guidance to law enforcement on how best to use it and more information about failures that preceded the shootings, said David Trahan, executive director of the group.

“We’re going to be putting forward ideas that we think would have prevented the shooting in Lewiston,” Trahan said. “We don’t think that any of what the gun safety coalition is proposing would have prevented the Lewiston shooting.”

In 2020, Maine instituted a yellow flag law that requires a medical evaluation and a decision by a judge before weapons can be confiscated.

By contrast, red flag laws on the books in more than 20 states allow law enforcement or family to go to a judge to have guns temporarily confiscated if they believe the person is a danger.

Trahan said he thinks the yellow flag law is working here, but that some changes — like requiring a mental health provider to conduct evaluations rather than hospitals — will make it even more effective.

A former Republican lawmaker, Trahan said he is working on six to eight recommendations that he will offer up to lawmakers. He hopes to work cooperatively with Mills and others but said feelings around the issue are still running high.

“Until this sorts itself out, it’s hard to have conversations when folks are so raw,” he said.

The National Rifle Association — which has a visible presence at the State House — did not respond to a request for comment.

Palmer said her group is pushing for the four law changes because there’s evidence that they work in other states. And in addition to enhancing public safety, a red flag law and a waiting period would help reduce suicides, she said.

On average in Maine, 90% of gun deaths are suicide.

She disagrees with Trahan on whether the measures they are proposing will prevent Lewiston-like tragedies in the future, saying that all the information about the tragedy has yet to come to light.

She’s hopeful that the background check bill, which passed the House but failed in the Senate, could pass this time around.

“Senators and other leaders within the State House have been deeply affected by Lewiston and many legislators who may not have looked favorably on the measures in the past are looking with new eyes and broken hearts,” she said.

In addition to potential law changes, an independent commission is investigating the circumstances surrounding the shootings at a Lewiston bowling alley and a bar to find out why no one was able to stop Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin, who had been treated for mental illness just months before the killings.

There’s action at the federal level too, with the Army Inspector General agreeing to the Maine Congressional delegation’s request for an investigation into Card’s history with the military and any actions it could have taken.

Back at the State House, legislative leaders have yet to decide which gun bills will be allowed in for consideration this session.

Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) is taking a different approach by offering legislation that would make it easier for mental health facilities to open in Maine.

“I would say that my bill is looking at getting at the root of the issue,” Libby said. “We have a mental health care crisis in Maine.”

She doesn’t support restricting guns in Maine.

“I don’t want to see law abiding citizens’ rights taken away in an attempt to address what happened in Lewiston,” she said. “It was a tragedy and passing a law that restricts law abiding citizens is a heck of a lot easier than addressing the mental health crisis in the state.”

Palmer said the solution can be an all-of-the-above approach.

“The challenges in the mental health system are real but access to deadly weapons make those challenges deadly,” she said. “We can take steps to keep members of the mental health community safe and other members of the community safe by addressing all facets of this issue.”