Hundreds of gun control advocates flooded the Maine State House Wednesday as the 131st Legislature returned for its second session, putting pressure on lawmakers to change the state’s permissive gun laws in the wake of the Oct. 25 Lewiston shootings.
Proponents of stricter gun control measures packed into the Hall of Flags Wednesday morning before the House and Senate convened to call upon state lawmakers to strengthen Maine’s “yellow flag” law, increased background checks on firearm purchases, and a ban on so-called “assault weapons.”
Marked by their bright orange hats — part of a “Wear Orange” initiative by gun control advocacy organization Everytown for Gun Safety — protestors held signs reading “Proud to be pro life: Gun safety laws now,” “Gun violence is not a family value,” and “We can end gun violence.”
[RELATED: Jared Golden Outlines Reasoning Behind his Support for Assault Rifle Ban in Letter to Constituents…]
Gun control advocates outside of the State House chanted in support of “red flag” laws — a stricter version of Maine’s yellow flag law which grants law enforcement the ability to seek a court order temporarily restricting an individual’s access to firearms when they pose a serious risk of harming themselves or others.
Maine’s yellow flag law differs from the more stringent red flag laws — present in California, New York, Colorado, and several other states — in that it requires a medical professional assessment of the individual in question before their access to firearms can be restricted by the court.
Lewiston shooter Robert Card, a 40-year-old Army Reservist, was committed for two weeks in July 2023 at a psychiatric hospital in New York, due to his erratic and aggressive behavior with his fellow soldiers.
[RELATED: Lewiston Shooter Robert Card’s Army Reserve Unit Was Filled with Cops…]
Card’s mental health condition, and a threat that he had made to “shoot up” an Army Reserve facility in Saco was made known to Maine law enforcement more than a month before the Oct. 25 shootings in Lewiston.
Despite these warning signs, a third party review of Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office’s (SCSO) response to the concerns raised about Card’s mental health — which included two unsuccessful welfare checks on Card in September — concluded that the SCSO “acted diligently” when encouraging Ryan Card, Robert Card’s brother, to facilitate a voluntary psychiatric evaluation of his brother and restrict his access to firearms.
The third party review also concluded that the SCSO did not have sufficient grounds to take Card into protective custody, which would have allowed for the initiation of Maine’s yellow flag law process.
[RELATED: Cases Less Severe Than Robert Card Triggered Maine’s Yellow Flag Law Firearm Restrictions…]
One organization in attendance at the Wednesday rally was Be SMART, a subdivision of Everytown which advocates for secure gun storage in order to reduce deaths and injuries that can result when a child or teen has access to an improperly stored firearm.
Janie Sweeney, Group Lead of Be SMART’s York County chapter, told the Maine Wire that in the case of Robert Card, Maine’s yellow flag law should have been invoked to restrict his access to firearms instead of leaving that responsibility to his family members.
“They shouldn’t have left it to a family member, they should’ve taken care of that,” Sweeney said. “We can’t take the word of a family member, or a spouse, or a child, or an uncle — I mean, that’s not good policy.”
“So [the yellow flag law] failed when he was admitted into the mental health facility in the military, the military didn’t report it and put him on the yellow flag list,” she said.”[Card’s] family notified lots of people, they were very, very outspoken and aggressive about trying to get people to know he was in danger.”
“There are lots of holes that happened in the system, which is unfortunate, but it has brought to the surface where those holes are,” she added.
Pro-Second Amendment advocates at the State House Wednesday emphasized a message of increasing mental health access and resources, as well as the importance of responsible gun ownership for self defense.
Andee Reardon, a U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) and National Rifle Association (NRA) certified firearms instructor and owner of the East Coast School of Safety, was at Wednesday’s protest representing Maine’s chapter of Women for Gun Rights.
“I really want to bring mental health to the forefront of this discussion,” Reardon told the Maine Wire. “I think more gun laws on the books are not going to do anything — we already have thousands of gun laws on the books, they’re not being enforced.”
“What happened in Lewiston should have been stopped with what laws are already on the books, and it was not stopped, so I don’t think more laws are going to help anything,” she said.
Reardon said that she hopes state lawmakers look into what mental health resources are available to Mainers, and work towards “making programs to help keep people safe, not take their rights away.”
You can tell from the use of the word “permissive” that this kid grew up in Mass. “putting pressure on lawmakers to change the state’s permissive gun laws in the wake of the Oct. 25 Lewiston shootings.” What does he not grasp about the Second Amendment?
Questions for “GUN CONTROL” zealots.
1. Define “assault weapon”.
2. Concerning an AR-15 rifle, what does the AR stand for?
3. Was the AR-15 rifle originally manufactured for civilian or military purposes?
3. What is the difference between a “round” and a “bullet”?
4. Is a clip and a magazine the same thing, or are they different?
5. Define the difference between a YELLOW FLAG LAW and a RED FLAG LAW, and which of these laws, IF ENFORCED, would have prevented the Lewiston tragedy?
6. Explain the significance of the magical number of “10 round magazines”.
7. What question(s) were answered incorrectly on ATF Form 4473, when Hunter Biden purchased his firearm?
the Yellow Flag law did not “fail”. Law Enforcement “failed” to implement it properly.
There were 100s of people there, however, there was an equal number of folks protesting more gun control. They expressed that if the authorities who approached the killer prior to his actions had done their jobs properly UNDER CURRENT MAINE LAWS the killings would never have happened.. these failures should be investigated and heads should fall. We don’t need more laws that impact innocent Americans. We need proper training to enforce the laws we already have.
The Sagadahoc sheriff’s department failed due diligence in it’s responsibility, they failed to carry out a wellness check and they even said they heard him in the home and left, that should have been a dead giveaway that it was important to make sure that they met him face to face. This was just another example of anti-2nd amendment zealots using an event to push their agenda of restricting God given rights from law abiding citizen that have no effect on criminals! So in effect these gun grabbers are empowering criminals and trying to hobble the innocent! Angus King and Jared Golden are prime examples of the inept representation that has no concept of the Constitution state or federal! They stick their finger in the air and go in the direction of least resistance, not really a great example of honor are principle!
Stupid Liberal White women are the most destructive force Western Civilization has ever faced.
We will take your guns through red flag laws. We will take your guns through yellow flag laws. We will take your guns through mental health diagnosis. We will take your guns by any means necessary. We are advancing grounds in disarming the right and it’s been slow, but effective.
Tick tock tick tok. The youth do not support guns. You’re a decade from a new generation of Revolutionaries that will rise up against their parents. Tick tock tick tok