Gun safety advocates called for action by state lawmakers Saturday in the wake of the Oct. 25 shootings that killed 18 and injured 13 in Lewiston.
About 300 people gathered in Capitol Park across from the State House to make clear their priorities moving forward: an assault weapons ban; a 72-hour waiting period after a gun purchase; universal background checks and a red flag law.
“The truth is that the shooter lived in Maine and our laws don’t keep dangerous guns out of the hands of dangerous people,” Cam Shannon, president of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition said. “Our laws and our systems are weak. Your presence here matters. It shows our lawmakers that you are heartbroken and outraged.”
The rally comes just 10 days after Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin, gunned down people in a bowling alley and a bar just four miles away. After a two-day manhunt, he was found in a recycling trailer dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Those gathered Saturday remembered the 18 lives he took, along with Card, who had a history of mental illness, according to family members.
“It’s shocking to think about,” Shannon said. “It’s sickening to think about. It’s tragic because we could have prevented it. There are 19 Mainers who could be alive and here with us today. They could be talking and laughing and living right now. Instead, they are being buried, their families are mourning.”
The call for legislative action renews a debate that’s been going on in Augusta for decades.
Earlier this year, lawmakers rejected bills that would have required universal background checks and a 72-hour waiting period.
One bill passed — a state-level restriction on knowingly selling a gun to someone who is prohibited from having one — and was signed into law by Gov. Janet Mills June 26.
Along with bipartisan support, that bill got the backing of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.
SAM and the National Rifle Association opposed the other measures, saying they weren’t tailored to Maine, a state with a long hunting tradition and low rates of violent crime.
Neither the NRA nor the sportsman’s alliance responded to requests for comment this week on the newest calls for gun legislation.
Rep. Margaret Craven (D-Lewiston) sponsored the 72-hour waiting period after a gun purchase bill and spoke to the crowd on Saturday.
“As a legislator we can and must do more to dig in,” she said as a handful of other Democratic legislators stood behind her. “Reduce the prevalence of these weapons of war and put a stop to the unnecessary carnage that destroys families and communities.”
Earlier in the week, Mills said she believes “action is needed,” but said she wants to set up a group that would include Democrats and Republicans, public safety and health officials, the judicial system, psychiatrists and “advocates on all sides” for a thoughtful discussion about how to move forward.
One topic is sure to be whether Maine’s “yellow flag” law — which requires more steps before guns can be taken from those considered a threat than the “red flag” laws in 20 other states — is sufficient.
The Rev. Kharma Amos of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick said it’s time for the “endless debates” about gun violence prevention to stop.
“If we are not convinced in this moment that something has to change then we are not paying attention,” she said.
Roy Hitchings of Camden, a self-described avid hunter, said he came to the rally because he believes the state needs to have a more robust discussion about mental health care and gun safety.
“It’s not mental health or gun safety, to me it’s both,” he said. “We have to make it easier to get mental health care and easier to prevent them from getting guns.”