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James LaPlante of South Portland is a father and small business owner who has advocated for smarter gun laws in Maine to help prevent tragedies like the one that happened to his brother and many other Mainers.
When Maine experienced its deadliest mass shooting in Lewiston in 2023 and we learned the details about the shooter in the weeks to come, it struck a nerve. It brought me back to my own personal struggle dealing with a mentally ill brother who stockpiled weapons and ammunition.
The parallels between Robert Card and my brother were unsettling. My brother was diagnosed with bi-polar schizophrenia and had been having episodes of paranoia where he was convinced that people were spreading rumors about him – similar to the paranoid rumors that Robert Card reportedly heard and saw. My brother would tell me how the local grocery store clerk was laughing at him because she was in on it.
His story ended differently. My brother took his life with one of his many guns and, while it was terrible to lose him in this way, when I think of Robert Card and the Lewiston shootings it could have ended much worse. I believe Question 2 could have saved my brother’s life, and I’m voting “yes” to try to prevent other families from going through this.
Question 2 would create an extreme risk protection order law in Maine that empowers families to go directly to a court when a loved one is in crisis and, if a court deems them dangerous, temporarily remove their access to firearms. It could be a life-saving tool for Maine families who, under Maine’s current “yellow flag” law, have no way to take direct actions themselves.
During the pandemic, my brother’s paranoid ideations were getting worse. He was convinced that people were plotting to steal his stuff. At one point he woke up my elderly mother with whom he was living as he positioned himself on the roof of her house with a scoped long rifle in the middle of the night. He did not understand why she was mad at him – he was just protecting her.
I was worried about what might happen. I was worried for my mother’s safety and was worried that he would become suicidal and act out with the arsenal he had amassed. I looked into Maine’s yellow flag law. It was a cumbersome process and when I inquired about it with my local police I was told that there wasn’t much they could do to take the guns away until he committed a crime. I thought to myself “by then it would be too late.”
I felt stuck with no real way to address the dangerous situation I knew was only going to get worse. So I did my best to try to be there for my brother, spending long hours on the phone talking him down when he had manic episodes. Feeling helpless and worried about my family was a nightmare to deal with.
If Maine had a true extreme risk protection order law I could have gone to a judge, explained my brother’s current mental state and my concerns for his safety and the safety of my family, and that judge could have ordered the temporary removal of his guns. That would have allowed me to get my brother the help he needed.
Family members are typically the first to know when a loved one is in a mental health crisis and could be a danger to themselves and others. Question 2 would give these families a way to help protect people in crisis, and others, by temporarily removing their weapons.
Vote “yes” on Question 2. Give families another tool to help their loved ones. It could have saved my brother and I believe it will save lives.
Election notice: The BDN will stop accepting letters and columns related to the Nov. 4 election on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Not all submissions can be published.
