Once again government failures have resulted in citizen’s lost rights. I am referring to recently enacted gun control laws in Maine. The federal, state and county agencies who had all the information AND the legal authority to take decisive action which could have prevented the horrific tragedy in Lewiston, all failed to do so. Now the citizens of the state will lose their rights as gleeful left wing gun control extremist legislators start Maine down the never ending path of useless gun control laws, because… Lewiston.
Let’s go back to Maine before the horrific shootings in Lewiston on October 25th, 2023. Maine has always been ranked in the top three of the safest states in the country, usually residing at the #1 spot. Maine also ranks as one of the least gun controlled states in the country. This of course made Maine a target of the gun control groups. And just as they did with other previously ‘free’ states, they just needed to wait for a triggering event to get the gun control ball rolling following the sickening mantra of “Never let a good crisis go to waste”.
Low crime rates and low gun control is no coincidence. The gun control zealots will tell you this is in spite of the lack of gun control laws and point to their so-called “studies” showing how violent non-gun controlled states are. They bizarrely claim that while “Maine is also a permitless carry state, though it continues to have low gun violence relative to its firearm laws, likely in part because it is protected by the strong laws of other states in the region.”
In reality, the exact opposite is true. Fewer gun control laws allow the law-abiding citizens of the state to be responsible for their own safety and security. More gun control laws mean a constant spiral of more government failures, more violence, followed by more gun control.
Remember, gun control does absolutely nothing to increase public safety and the answer to fix that shortcoming is always to implement more gun control.
The sad truth here is the number of federal, state and county agencies who had first-hand information about the danger the suspect posed in the months leading up to tragedy, yet failed to act on it, despite having full legal authority to do so. From the US Army/Army Reserve, the New York State Police to the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department, who were all either witness to his violent behavior and stated intentions or received the information from witnesses.
Despite the vehement denials by the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department and the deputy involved saying they absolutely did not have legal authority to act, and simply did not want to make matters worse, the Independent Commission appointed by Maine’s Governor to investigate the incident made it clear they did in an interim report. Excerpts from that report include:*
“The Commission unanimously concludes that the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office had more than sufficient information to begin the process of securing a Yellow Flag order against Robert Card Jr. on September 17th, 2023.”
“The Commission recognizes that, to take Mr. Card into protective custody, an officer would have had to make “face-to-face” contact with him. We also recognize that that process might not have been without difficulty and potential risk. Taking Mr. Card into protective custody, however, was warranted by the information known to Sgt. Skolfield as of September 17, 2023, and a plan to intervene and take Mr. Card into protective custody should have been undertaken.”
“As reported, the Yellow Flag process may sometimes be cumbersome. A review of other Yellow Flag orders in Maine, both before and after the October 25th shootings, demonstrates that the process can and has been successfully used. An officer needs to have knowledge of the process, use all the resources the officer has to gather the necessary information, and have the dedication and persistence to follow through with the investigation and the process.”
As I indicated above, gleeful left wing gun control extremist legislators in Maine were more than happy to capitalize on the deaths of innocent victims to pursue their agenda. MANY gun control bills were introduced, and legislative gamesmanship of the like rarely seen before in the State of Maine were practiced to move them forward. These included such tactics as having vulnerable Democrat members out for walks during key votes and an obscure “vote paring” scheme to create the illusion of opposition while passively allowing the measures to pass.
In the end, a 72 hour waiting period was approved, as well as a mandating background checks for private advertised sales and “improvements” to the state’s Yellow Flag law.
What impact will the new laws have? The 72 hour waiting period will result in significant lost business to the state’s hunting and sporting business (a major goal of the gun control lobby) and potentially the loss of the state’s largest firearms retailer who may move to New Hampshire (another major goal of the gun control lobby). With no exceptions for those who are seeking protection from abusers, victims of domestic violence will be left to fend for themselves.
Changing the state’s Yellow Flag law by removing some of the due-process protections in favor of simplified actions for law enforcement has now turned the Yellow Flag law a dark shade of orange. While not a full-fledged red flag law with an expansive laundry list of people who can petition to remove your firearms and Second Amendment rights, the ‘streamlining’ allows law enforcement to take the action for them. As we’ve already seen around the country, streamlined simplicity leads to abuse.
While other gun controlled states around the country with much longer waiting periods, such as California’s 10-day and New Mexico’s recently enacted seven day waiting period might consider Maine’s 3-day wait a dream, they all realize this is only the start and now that Maine has allowed the first gun control laws to come in, the floodgates will open.
Maine’s new gun laws go into effect on August 8th, 2024.
By the way, if you’re wondering what the state’s law-abiding citizens response was to the tragedy in Lewiston, it was to purchase firearms and get training. People are understanding the government will never be able to protect them and they are responsible for their own and the protection of their families.
Yes, it does matter who you vote for.
Bob
* Note: I normally do not include the names of the pathetic psychopaths who commit these horrific crimes, however I chose to quote the Independent Commission’s Interim Report directly.
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