AUGUSTA (WGME) — Following the tragic shootings in Lewiston, Governor Janet Mills unveiled her proposal on Wednesday, addressing both gun violence and mental health issues.
She claims that it will improve both the state’s mental health system and public safety.
The governor’s plan covers a wide range of topics, such as creating a program at the Maine CDC to reduce violence and growing the number of Crisis Receiving Centers to increase mental health resources.
During her January State of the State speech, Mills declared, “Doing nothing is not an option for the sake of our state.”
By amending Maine’s yellow flag law, Mills’ measure would allow law enforcement to place someone in protective custody without first obtaining a mental health examination by going straight to a judge.
The law also extends background checks to private and unadvertised gun transactions.
Several Republicans resisted the idea when she first unveiled it during her State of the State speech in January.
“It doesn’t make people safe to take away and make it harder for law-abiding people to have the means to defend themselves and their families.” Following the governor’s speech, Senator Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin) stated.
There are others in the Democratic Party that want more. Representative Jared Golden claimed in an interview with WGAN radio that Mills’ plan doesn’t make enough changes.
Card would still have been able to obtain his guns despite that. Background checks were successful for him. His record was spotless,” Golden remarked. Therefore, a response that suggests, “Let’s do something that says we’re doing something,” doesn’t appeal to me.
Other actions are being taken by some lawmakers in Maine.
47 Democratic lawmakers asked Cabela’s and the Kittery Trading Post to stop selling “military style semi-automatic weapons” in a letter they issued on Wednesday. The letter mentions Walmart and other merchants who discontinued carrying specific guns following catastrophes.
The letter was spearheaded by Rep. Lori Gramlich (D-Old Orchard Beach) following her visit to the Kittery Trading Post.
When you visit the Kittery Trading Post and witness the endless rows of AR-15s, assault-style rifles, and 30-round magazines up close, it’s a very other experience, according to Gramlich.
Following the state’s worst mass shooting, Gramlich and her colleagues are reiterating a letter that three Maine lawmakers issued to the Kittery Trading Post in 2018.
Gramlich stated, “It’s really obvious to me now that it’s time to call upon them to do the right thing after my visit to that retailer.”
When asked if she was thinking about passing legislation outlawing assault firearms, Gramlich stated that before talking about such a law, she wanted to see how the merchants would react.
