By: Anthony Morelli
Gun control could be right around the corner.
One election could make all the difference.
And gun owners need to keep a watchful eye out for what is about to happen.
After the shooting in Lewiston, Maine, the anti-gun lobby was very frustrated by the fact that their most strident gun control proposals were not adopted.
Maine is a state with a high level of gun ownership, especially for a state in the northeast, and the constitutional carry laws that protect gun owners in Maine were left untouched.
That’s why anti-gun activists in Maine are resorting to other means to achieve their goal of passing much stricter gun control in the state.
They are turning to the ballot box, hoping that the voters of the state will pass something that is more in line with what they are looking for.
Whether this will work or not is questionable, as gun control has a mixed record at the ballot box.
But people in Maine who lean to the left and want to see more gun control are going to try very hard to get this measure on the ballot and advocate for it.
According to The Truth About Guns, “The Maine Gun Safety Coalition is pushing to pass a new red flag gun law, deploying more than 500 volunteers at over 100 polling locations on election day last Tuesday. Volunteers were tasked with collecting signatures for the group’s ‘Safe Schools, Safe Communities’ campaign.
“The campaign is allegedly part of an effort to address the state’s high rate of suicide as well as gun violence in general, with the Maine Gun Safety Coalition arguing that having the extreme risk protection order, also known as a red flag law, would have prevented the Lewiston mass shooting on October 25, 2023, which left 18 people dead and 13 injured.”
The suicide angle makes very little sense, as the best way to prevent suicide is by giving support to people who are struggling mentally, not by taking away 1 out of hundreds of possible suicide methods.
And there’s very little reason to think that it will stop shootings either. School shootings can likely be prevented by better security, but there is no way to completely prevent all forms of mass violence.
The article continues, “The state is currently home to the country’s only yellow flag law. Here’s how it works. Concerned relatives of a family member suffering a mental health crisis who feel he or she may be a threat to the safety and well-being of themselves or others may call law enforcement to seek an order temporarily restricting that person’s access to firearms. Law enforcement then takes the individual into temporary custody until a medical evaluation can be completed. If the results determine the person is a threat to themselves or others, the medical professional certifies that the person should not have access to firearms. At this time a court may order police to remove firearms from the person’s residence and restrict them from possessing or maintaining firearms temporarily.”
This seems like a better way than a red flag law that could take away the freedoms of innocent people.