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Susan Young is the Bangor Daily News opinion editor.
It is very likely that Maine will make significant changes to its gun laws this legislative session. Many people may argue that the changes don’t go far enough and some will say they are too draconian.
But a mass shooting in Lewiston in October exposed terrible weaknesses in Maine’s laws, policies and practices that are meant to protect Mainers from such violence. While a commission reviewing the circumstances around the shooting, which left 18 people dead and 13 injured, is continuing its work, some things are clear to me. Maine’s gun laws and current risk protection orders are too weak.
Lawmakers are considering bills to address both, and to make needed improvements to and investments in Maine’s strained mental health care system.
To be clear, it is disheartening that it took a horrific mass murder in Maine to prompt some people to action and to reconsider their long-held beliefs. First, I understand this is human nature. We downplay risks. We don’t fully grasp some dangers until they impact us personally.
The shocking tragedy in Lewiston — the many lives lost, the others forever altered — shook us from that denial. It could, and terribly did, happen here.
Second, the reflection and reconsideration after the Oct. 25 Lewiston mass shooting is not, as some have suggested, a weakness or pandering to special interests. Reconsidering stances in light of new information and events should also be human nature.
I think it was brave, and refreshingly honest, of Gov. Janet Mills and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden to explain how the tragedy in Lewiston impacted them, and ultimately, changed their perspective on gun laws.
Such reflection prompted Mills to propose a set of measures aimed at protecting Mainers from gun violence. Her bill, which includes an expansion of a background check requirement to all private gun sales, along with support for additional mental health and substance use stabilization services and modest changes to Maine’s yellow flag risk protection order law, are a centerpiece of gun legislation currently being considered by state lawmakers.
Mills’ bill is likely to — and should — pass and be enacted into law. On its own, this would be the most significant strengthening of state gun law in decades.
But lawmakers should do more. They should pass a bill, LD 2238, that would establish a 72-hour waiting period to buy a firearm in Maine. Eleven states have waiting period laws, and they are under consideration in other states.
Such laws have been shown to save lives, by reducing both homicides and suicides. A 2017 study found a 17 percent drop in homicide deaths and a 7 percent to 11 percent drop in deaths by suicide when gun purchase waiting periods were in place.
Gun violence is also related to mental health. To be clear, people with diagnosed mental health conditions are more likely to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators. But those who perpetuate mass shootings, engage in domestic violence or other gun violence often show signs of behavioral aberrations that warrant attention and action, as did the Lewiston shooter, Robert Card II.
How best to respond to those warning signs is a vital and ongoing discussion. Lawmakers should listen to the concerns raised by some law enforcement and health care personnel about the shortcomings of Maine’s current risk protection order law.
Many have made a persuasive case that the processes in Maine’s yellow flag law are cumbersome, which could make it inadequate. For example, Sanford police Sgt. Colleen Adams told members of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee how the many steps required in the current law can overburden a law enforcement agency, while putting others, including hospital staff, at risk.
I understand the need for due process when considering the serious matter of taking someone’s guns away. However, many states have successfully used stronger risk protection orders, called red flag laws, which can be more effective and more flexible, while also offering an avenue for family members to begin the process. Maine should join these states with passage of House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross’ bill, which would enact a “Crisis Intervention Order Act.”
There is no way to erase the heartache of those devastated by the events of Oct. 25, and there are no guaranteed solutions to preventing all gun violence. But by adopting firearms and mental health measures that have been shown to help in other states, Maine lawmakers can know that they responded to the Lewiston tragedy with thoughtful changes that can help make Pine Tree State a safer place.