Maine hunters do not use automatic weapons because there is no reason to own one

An alarming article published in The Washington Post led me to find the following letter to the editor published in Maine.  "Double mass shootings over December 1, 2023, weekend set grim U.S. record."

In less than 90 minutes on Sunday afternoon, two 911 calls led police in Texas and Washington to two mass shootings that pushed the nation to a gruesome milestone. They were the 37th and 38th shootings this year in which four or more victims were killed, the highest number of mass killings in any year since at least 2006. Last year’s 36 was the previous record.

Echo opinion letter published in CentralMaine.com:

Some time ago, I asked Maine Rep. Jared Golden if he would still oppose an assault weapons ban if his own daughter was the victim of a mass shooting. I got a form letter in response, touting his support of the clearly ineffective Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. 

How quickly he changed his mind when a hypothetical situation suddenly became an actual possibility. While I applaud Rep. Golden finally changing his stance, it shouldn’t have taken a mass shooting in his own city for him to see the light.

Unfortunately, too many Maine legislators are posting that we shouldn’t “politicize” this issue and push for more gun safety laws. The truth is that not a single one of these legislators would say, “Well, it was worth it for the right to own one of these weapons!” if it was their own child or loved one. So why do they vote as if they would? Even Ronald Reagan said, “I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon or needed for the defense of the home.”

It’s time to end the hypocrisy. No one needs an assault weapon for home defense or hunting. No one.

Amy Fuller in Augusta, Maine

Maine legislature failed to pass protective gun laws in January 2023 but failed to do so

Echo editorial published in CentralMaine.com

 

MaineWriter.com L'Heureux photograph

AUGUSTA, Me- In the legislature, by voting down a handful of simple, unimposing gun control proposals earlier this year, state lawmakers failed Mainers.

Come January 3, 2024, the same lawmakers have an opportunity to pass emergency legislation that would – at minimum – right the shameful oversights of the first legislative session. 

Indeed, the outpouring of public support for action on guns should mean the writing is on the wall; our elected representatives need to realize they have no choice now but to correct them.

Early reports on the antsy work arising from the mass shootings in Lewiston on October 25, 2023, heralds a mixed bag of bills in development.

This forthcoming wave of proposals will undoubtedly contain some duds. A suggestion (by Republican Sen. Eric Brakey) that the state issue a commemorative license plate is a good example of the type of “thoughts and prayers” reflex that we could all do without.

It appears there will be a host of proposals to improve mental health care and a few related to victim support. These are necessary areas of focus. The legislating that most urgently needs to be done, however, and which we know to be the most contentious, must focus on preventing shootings rather than trying to repair their devastating aftermath.

Although high-profile leaders like U.S. Rep. Jared Golden and state Senate President Troy Jackson have been vocal about reconsidering their opposition to conditions on gun ownership, following the Lewiston shootings, we know better than to think this will be either widely representative or persuasive enough to bring staunch gun control opponents around.

Representative Jared Golden (D) Maine Second District Congressman

According to this newspaper’s reporting, early versions of bills “set the stage for what could be a historic debate over gun legislation in the coming session.”

That the negotiations will be historic is not in doubt – the reverberations of Maine’s worst mass shooting are going to be keenly felt for a long time.

That there is a guarantee of more debate on some of these simple, basic ideas, however – ideas that enjoy robust and growing public support, the likes of which even the most popular elected representative could only dream of – continues to be profoundly disappointing.

After Lewiston, it stings uniquely. How do we reconcile this resistance with the depth of the statewide horror, heartbreak and outrage?

Two months before Lewiston, this editorial board published an impatient position on the sorry outcome of gun control laws in Maine in the last session (“Our View: We have not nearly earned the right to quibble about gun control,” Sept. 7).

And yet, even having been through what Maine has now been through, impressionable lawmakers all around our state are already preparing to engage in more dishonest, paranoid arguments against the most basic and inoffensive restrictions. Every time they dare to do this, and they are now very good at it, they put warped thinking and commercial interests before the safety and security of their constituents.

Instituting an effective system of background checks on private gun sales and waiting periods, and banning “rapid-fire” augmentation devices that make the average gun more like an automatic weapon, the three most obvious and galling examples of measures untouched, would result in only negligible changes to a prospective gun owner’s buying experience.

That’s without getting into addressing the shortcomings of the “yellow flag” law or advancing the strong case for a “red flag” law and the even stronger case for an assault weapons ban, prospective regulations that have been loudly called for since Oct. 25.

The Giffords Law Center (founded by Rep. Gabby Giffords after she survived a shooting in 2011) gives Maine an “F” grade for gun safety, along with 24 other states. There’s absolutely no reason we should still be part of this pitiful group.

Widespread and increasingly fervent public support for standards on the procurement and ownership of guns isn’t reflected in the statutes. Until it is, guns come before people, which should be mortifying to everybody.

Lawmakers in Augusta owe it to Mainers to free themselves from the selfish philosophical manipulations of the gun lobby and the rampant disrespect for the public that lobby insists on. Can they do that? We’re waiting impatiently to find out.

Comment from an editorial reader: There is absolutely no reason why we do not know what Robert Card had for a firepower that horrific night. All we know so far is he used an AR styled long gun with a laser sight. Beyond that they have not released any more information. I want to know how long was he at both locations, how many rounds he fired at both locations, did the AR-10 have a bump stock and what size magazine was he using. Releasing that information will inform all Mainers what those innocent civilians faced. It has to come out sooner rather than later. Stop protecting gun manufacturers and sellers. Tell us the truth. You won't because you are the real cowards.

Mental illness did not prevent the Lewiston shooter from getting access to multiple guns

Echo report published in The Maine Monitor by Samantha Hogan, David Dahl and Rose Lundy:

Mass shootings at a bowling alley and bar that left 18 people dead in Lewiston on Wednesday (October 25) evening have brought Maine’s complicated relationship with guns and how to regulate them to the forefront once again.

In the past three years, state lawmakers proposed nearly four dozen bills to regulate the sale, carry and liability of guns in Maine, but most have not passed the Legislature. A “yellow flag” law enacted in 2019, lets law enforcement take guns away from someone they suspect of posing a threat to themselves or others, but officials concede it is underutilized.

Maine ranks in the middle of the pack among other states when it comes to gun safety laws, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control group, and the laws in place appeared to have done little to stop the suspect in the mass shooting in Lewiston.

Maine does not require a permit to carry a firearm in most cases. State lawmakers have rejected proposals for background checks and limits on accessories that make guns more easy to shoot. It also does not have a ban on assault weapons, unlike two other New England states.

Kristen Cloutier (Democrat), who lives in Lewiston and is the Assistant House Majority Leader, said the shooting in her hometown was “surreal and heartbreaking,” and called for “bold” legislative action to address gun violence.

“This has only strengthened my own resolve to do whatever I can to help prevent similar tragedies like this from happening again in other communities. As a state, we must do more to address gun violence and keep ourselves, our families, our friends and our neighbors safe,” Cloutier wrote in a statement to the press.

“Words are not enough — they never have been. We must take bold action,” she added.

The Maine Gun Safety Coalition immediately called on state lawmakers to pass an assault weapons ban calling the events in Lewiston “horrific, senseless tragedies.”

Rep. Rebecca Millett (D-Cape Elizabeth), a member of the state’s Gun Safety Caucus, said it was very difficult to talk about the mass shooting in Lewiston, after spending years fighting “bad gun bills” and trying to advance gun safety laws.

“The years I had to listen to my colleagues stand and say we don’t need gun safety legislation and Maine is the safest place in the country. To have my worst nightmares happen, is just devastating,” Millett said in an interview with The Maine Monitor.

Rep. Jared Golden (D) Maine second district Congressman

In another development, US Rep. Jared Golden, a Lewiston Democrat, told a news conference Thursday evening he would drop his opposition to an assault weapons ban that has stalled in Congress.

“I have opposed efforts to ban deadly weapons of war, like the assault rifle used to carry out this crime,” Golden said. “The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure, which is why I now call on the U.S. Congress to ban assault rifles, like the one used by the sick perpetrator of this mass killing in my hometown of Lewiston, Maine.”

Details emerge about man alleged to have shot 18 people:

A manhunt was underway Thursday by police to find the man suspected of firing multiple shots at two locations, killing 18 and wounding 13. Photos released by law enforcement show a man carrying a semiautomatic style rifle.

The suspect, Robert R. Card, 40, of Bowdoin, has a history of mental health problems and is a trained firearms instructor, according to the Associated Press.

Card is a petroleum supply specialist and Sgt. 1st Class in the Army Reserve, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army confirmed to the Portland Press Herald Thursday. The spokesperson told the newspaper that Card enlisted in 2002 and has received multiple awards but has not been deployed in combat.

The Sun Journal reported that Card had spent two weeks at a mental health facility this summer. It is unknown if Card was voluntarily admitted or involuntarily committed to the facility.

People who are involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital by a district court may not own or possess firearms in Maine, according to state law. Violating the law is a class D misdemeanor crime.

The Associated Press reported Thursday that police took Card for an evaluation in mid-July after military officials grew concerned about his erratic behavior while he was training with the U.S. Army Reserves at the Military Academy at West Point in New York, according to an official who spoke to the AP, on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the information. The official told the AP that military commanders called the New York state police, who took Card to the Keller Army Community Hospital for evaluation.

When asked at a press briefing why Card was able to access a gun despite his reported history of mental health challenges, Mike Sauschuck, commissioner of the Maine Department of Public Safety, said “those are all valid questions and certainly questions that we are looking into now, but not questions that we can answer today,” given the ongoing manhunt.

Maine grapples with foreseeable harm

Maine legislators passed the “yellow flag” law in 2019, that allows police to petition a court to remove guns from a person that a medical expert says presents “a likelihood of foreseeable harm” to themselves or others either because of suicidal or violent threats against others.

The Associated Press reported that Maine’s yellow flag law is weaker than so-called “red flag” laws found in some 20 other states. The Maine law requires police first to get a medical practitioner to evaluate the person and find them to be a threat before police can petition a judge to order the person’s firearms to be seized, the AP said.

It was not clear Thursday if the law came into play regarding the suspect in the Lewiston shooting.

Maine’s yellow flag law is underused, police acknowledge. Maine Public Radio reported that the law was used two dozen times in the first two years it was in effect. Earlier this year, law enforcement noted that the law is “not being used on a regular and responsive basis” and cited a lack of available medical professionals to complete the assessments, according to a report.

Barbara Cardone, spokeswoman for the state judicial branch, said Thursday involuntary commitment orders and petitions under the “yellow flag” law are confidential court records. She declined to say whether any such court records existed for Card.

“All of these kinds of records are confidential, so I cannot provide you with any information,” Cardone wrote.

Edward Davis, who was Boston’s police commissioner during 2013 Marathon bombings, said the weapon in photos released by police appeared to be an assault-style rifle, most likely an AR-15 or an M-4, which is the military version of the AR-15.

Davis, who now runs his own security company, noted that he spends time in Maine and has had tense conversations with Mainers about gun ownership.

“I have guns, but they need to be regulated,” Davis said in an interview with The Maine Monitor.

The suspect in the shootings, Card, has a history of mental health problems. “We should have an absolute prohibition on anybody like that having guns,” Davis said.

Maine will now grapple with how to respond to one of its worst mass casualty events.

Similar shootings have shaken the country, including the 2022, Buffalo grocery store shooting that killed 10, and the 2021, spa shooting spree in Atlanta that killed eight people.

“We continue to monitor the horrific situation in the greater Lewiston area as the manhunt is underway for the person of interest in the Lewiston mass shooting. We grieve for the families of the 18 who were killed and 13 injured in this senseless tragedy,” Maine House Republicans said in a news release on Thursday.

Stephen King, famous Maine horror and science fiction author, said on X, formerly known as Twitter, Thursday morning that these kinds of shootings don’t happen in other countries.

“The shootings occurred less than 50 miles from where I live,” he wrote to his 7 million followers. “I went to high school in Lisbon. It’s the rapid-fire killing machines, people. This is madness in the name of freedom. Stop electing apologists for murder.”

A tired fight for change

Everytown For Gun Safety, a gun safety advocacy group, ranked Maine 25th in the nation in terms of gun laws.

Maine law prohibits any person convicted of a crime and sentenced to a year or more in prison from possessing a firearm. People under a protection from abuse order for harassing, stalking or threatening an intimate partner or child also may not possess a gun.

State lawmakers in recent years have rejected ideas to prohibit people from possessing “rapid-fire modification” devices for guns that increase the number of bullets that can be shot at one time or to require background checks for purchasers at private gun shows.

Maine lawmakers also rejected a proposed background check exemption for people with concealed weapons permits when they go to purchase a firearm, and legislation that would regulate the manufacture, distribution and possession of “untraceable and undetectable” firearms.

A proposal that would allow certain people to carry concealed handguns on school property narrowly failed in the Maine Legislature in June.

Several more pieces of gun legislation are expected to be discussed by lawmakers next year when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

Millett, the lawmaker from Cape Elizabeth, has a bill that would allow a person to bring a civil lawsuit against gun manufacturers for selling “abnormally dangerous” guns, because the product was “most suitable for assaultive purposes” rather than hunting, self-defense or sport, or because it converts a legal firearm into an illegal firearm, or is marketed to minors.

She said in an interview Thursday it is time for legislators to listen to the people they represent and to be proactive about gun safety.

Still, lawmakers will face barriers to getting substantial legislation passed next year while they meet for a short time and with restrictions on the kinds of bills that can be worked on.

“We had a host of bills this past session and a good deal of them didn’t go anywhere,” Millett said. “And now that we’re in the short session there’s a lot less latitude for legislators to put in any new legislation for consideration.”

At least one proposed bill that will go to lawmakers next year would restore gun rights to some people convicted of nonviolent crimes if they are not convicted or any additional crimes and 10 years have passed. Criminal law experts have already raised multiple concerns about how the bill is written.

Ten states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, have assault weapons bans.

On the federal level, President Joe Biden again called for a ban on assault weapons following the shooting in Lewiston.

Biden urged Congressional Republicans to work with Democrats to pass a bill that would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. He also called for universal background checks, safe storage of guns and an end to liability immunity for gun manufacturers.