The 131st Legislature has adjourned without the passage of L.D. 2283 and joining 21 other states that have implemented red flag laws. Some are blaming Gov. Mills for the failure of passage of the bill that — had it been in effect — could have been instrumental in preventing last October’s Lewiston tragedy and so many other unnecessary deaths had a family member been able to intervene. Maine’s sole-in-the-nation yellow flag law, and the governor’s recently passed S.P. 953, an anemic act entitled “An Act to Strengthen Public Safety by Improving Maine’s Firearms Laws and Mental Health System” — neither of which legally allows family members to intervene in their current iterations.
Who can we thank for this failure to address common-sense gun safety? Republicans of course, who killed the bill, which was overwhelmingly supported by both House and Senate Democrats. Those who especially helped it fail were GOP Reps. Billy Bob Faulkingham (Winter Harbor), John Andrews (Paris), David Haggan (Hampden), Rachel Ann Henderson (Rumford), and Sens. Eric Brakey (District 20), Trey Stewart (District 2) and Mathew Harrington (District 33), who put the final nails in its coffin. It was a fait accompli for the gun industry and Second Amendment zealots who could give a damn about public safety. In the meantime, purchase your flak jacket.
Jon St. Laurent
North Windham
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