AUGUSTA (AP) – After a weekend push to collect signatures for a people’s veto effort, opponents of Maine’s newly enacted gay rights law said Monday they’re not sure whether they’ve collected enough to force a statewide vote this November.

Campaign leaders including the Christian Civic League of Maine and the Maine Grassroots Coalition have until Tuesday to submit the signatures of at least 50,519 voters to the secretary of state’s office.

On Saturday, civic league leaders estimated they were a few thousand signatures short and appealed to members to collect what was needed. But Monday morning, the league said the outcome of its last-minute effort was too close to call.

“As of yet, we haven’t been able to determine the result, but we remain cautiously optimistic,” the league said in its online newspaper, The Record.

The petitions seek to force a vote on the law that prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, education, credit and public accommodations based on sexual orientation.

Supporters of Maine’s gay rights law stress that Maine is the last New England state to enact protections for gays. They have labeled suggestions that the law sanctions gay marriages as a scare tactic.

“Maine’s anti-discrimination law will take effect or we will launch a campaign to affirm that Mainers support basic legal protections for all,” the group Maine Won’t Discriminate said.

Wal-Mart stores accused of selling illegal fireworks

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on Monday accused Wal-Mart of selling illegal fireworks in some of its Connecticut stores.

Blumenthal said he has sent a letter to the retailer and the fireworks’ distributor, TNT Fireworks, ordering them to take the firework, “Piccolo Petes,” off store shelves.

“Sales of these dangerous devices should stop immediately,” Blumenthal said. “Wal-Mart or TNT Fireworks will face legal fireworks in state court, if they defy this order.”

The product emits a 5-inch flame when lit, Blumenthal said.

Since 2001, Connecticut has allowed the sale of sparklers. Other fireworks, including Roman candles, remain illegal.

Jerry O’Malley, an attorney for Alabama-based TNT Fireworks, said “Piccolo Petes” is a sparkler under state law, and has been sold here for several years.

“It’s non-aerial, non-exploding and contains less than 100 grams of pyrotechnic composition,” he said. “It is no or more less hazardous than a sparkler that emits a shower of sparks.”

A telephone call seeking comment from Wal-Mart was not immediately returned.