Maine passes red flag gun law 2 years after Lewiston shooting
Two years after Maine's deadliest mass shooting, when a gunman killed 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar, the New England state passed a new Extreme Risk Protection Order law.
The shooting began just before 7 p.m. at the bowling alley, Just-In-Time Recreation. Armed with a semiautomatic rifle fitted with a scope and laser, Army reservist Robert Card killed eight people in 45 seconds. He then drove 4 miles to the bar, where he killed another 10 people. He later killed himself.
In the months before the shooting, both the Army and police failed to seize Card's guns, despite knowing his mental health was unraveling and he was making ominous threats, an investigating commission found. About 100 survivors and relatives of the victims are now taking steps to sue the Army.
On Tuesday, Maine residents voted to pass Question 2, the ballot measure to create an Extreme Risk Protection Order law, also known as a red flag law. The new law empowers families and law enforcement to go directly to a court when someone is in crisis and, if a court finds them dangerous, temporarily restrict their access to deadly weapons.
"It's been over two years since I last saw my son, Artie, while we were playing pool at the bar, and not a day goes by that I don't think about him and how it could have been stopped," said Arthur Barnard, Question 2 citizen sponsor and father of Lewiston victim Arthur Strout. "For me, tonight's victory is bittersweet. Nothing will bring back my son, or the 17 others who lost their lives that night. But this common-sense measure will help prevent other parents from ever having to experience what we have."
But Nacole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, which sponsored Question 2, hopes it's much bigger than Maine.
"While tonight's victory is a victory for Mainers, it's also bigger than Maine — it's part of the roadmap for how we enact life-saving laws and make progress on this issue state-by-state," Palmer said. "After years of no or incremental progress at the federal level, the road to creating safer communities and a safer nation runs through states like Maine, where voters have the power to take direct action on this issue when politicians. I'm proud that Maine is a part of that movement, alongside other local, state-based gun violence prevention organizations across the country."
More than 20 states have a red flag law.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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