Main: The Maine Statehouse is shown as the sun sets. (screengrab via WCSH). Inset: A make-shift memorial lines Main Street, Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, Lewiston, Maine (AP Photo/Matt York, File).
After an all-night session Wednesday, Maine lawmakers have approved sweeping gun safety legislation, nearly six months after a gunman with a history of mental health concerns killed 18 people in the deadliest shooting in the state’s history.
The bill adopted early Thursday morning expands background checks for private gun sales advertised online, funds violence protection initiatives, makes it a crime to recklessly sell a gun to someone who is prohibited from having guns, and strengthens the state’s so-called “yellow flag law.” The day before, the legislature approved a regulation imposing a 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases, demonstrating a significant shift from the legislature’s failure to pass similar measures last year.
The bill passed Thursday also opens a mental health crisis center in Lewiston, the same city where 40-year-old U.S. Army Reservist Robert Card fatally shot 18 people last October.
“Red flag laws” are regulations that allow the relative or roommate of a gun owner to apply for an emergency court order if that person suspects the gun owner poses an immediate threat of violence. If the court agrees, the gun owner is ordered to temporarily surrender their gun license and firearms until further proceedings are conducted. Twenty-one states currently have red flag laws.
By contrast, Maine is the only state that has a “yellow flag law,” which is similar, but requires more interim steps between a person’s concerns and the court order to surrender firearms. Prior to the legislature’s all-nighter, Maine allowed a close relative of a gun owner or a police officer to report the gun owner to law enforcement. Then, police could take the person into protective custody, order a mental health evaluation, and if deemed necessary, apply for a court order.
House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross introduced red-flag legislation in late March that would allow family members to petition to remove guns from those suffering from a psychiatric crisis. However, the legislature took no action on Ross’ proposal during its session Wednesday and Thursday.
Opponents of the legislation say that it is “out of step” with Maine’s “proud gun-owning heritage.”
The bills now head to Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, to sign into law.
Card was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound two days after carrying out a shooting at Just-in-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar and Grille in Lewiston. Following the incident, authorities reported that family members said they had been concerned about Card’s mental health.
An official report into the shooting determined that law enforcement should have initiated the yellow-flag process against Card.
Nacole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, warned that though the new changes were “significant,” they still did not go far enough. “It would be a mistake to legislate purely to the last crisis, the last tragedy,” Pallmer said. “The next one isn’t going to look like that.”
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