It is encouraging that gun safety is on Maine’s radar in a serious way. I will, however, be disappointed if all we manage to achieve is a focus on mental health components instead of the lethal nature of guns. I do not oppose providing mental health services and crisis intervention centers; in Maine, we do not have an adequately functioning system for mental health support. But let’s not blame people struggling with mental health challenges for our gun violence.

It is guns that kill people. There is no reason to allow on our streets assault weapons like an AR-15 or any gun fitted with multiple firing power, such as bump stocks. Nor easy access to high-capacity bullet cartridges to facilitate mass killings.

Let’s finally put into Maine law basic commonsense provisions:
• Background checks for all civilian gun buyers with no loopholes for private sales.
• A 72-hour waiting period as a preventative to hotheaded retaliation.

David Trahan, the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, is inaccurate when he says it is out-of-staters who are leading us Mainers to lobby for gun safety measures (“Maine Democrats unveil gun safety and mental heath bills,” Feb. 28).

Before I retired, I spent a considerable amount of time before legislators; gun safety legislation would come up with a lot of support yet not get enacted. It would be wonderful if, this time, these gun safety measures that Mainers support are unable to be quashed behind the scenes.

Suzanne Rudalevige
Cape Elizabeth

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