3 days Ago
Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston, pictured at dusk on Oct. 26, 2023, 24 hours into the manhunt for a gunman who killed 18 people and injured 13 others. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald Nearly a year after the Lewiston shooting that left 18 people dead, Sen.
Susan Collins will introduce a bill Monday that would require the U.S. military to utilize state crisis intervention programs, like Maine’s Yellow Flag Law, if a service member poses a serious threat to themselves or others.
Co-sponsored by Sen. Angus King, the bill comes after investigations by the Army Reserve and an independent commission found that the Army Reserve and local police failed to disarm the gunman after learning about violent threats he made against his unit’s Saco base. The bill would require the armed forces to utilize already existing state crisis intervention laws if a servicemember has made a serious and credible threat of violence or has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution.
The military would be required to provide relevant information to civilian law enforcement and share such information in judicial proceedings. In Maine, this would mean that the military operating in the state would have to comply with the Yellow Flag Law, which allows law enforcement to temporarily restrict access to firearms if a person is determined to be a threat to themselves or others. The independent commission appointed by Gov.
Janet Mills said in its final report in August that law enforcement should have used the law to disarm the Lewiston gunman long before the Oct. 25 mass shooting. “While the shooter was responsible for his horrific actions, multiple independent investigations revealed that there were numerous missed opportunities to potentially intervene and prevent this tragedy,” Collins said in a prepared statement.
“This bill would facilitate effective communication and coordination between state agencies and military service branches, thereby helping to keep our communities safe and ensuring that service members in crisis get the assistance they need, without infringing upon the rights of law-abiding gun owners.” Gov. Mills to discuss findings of Lewiston shooting commission on Friday ‘A colossal failure’: Mills calls out Sagadahoc deputy, Army for failing to prevent Lewiston mass shooting Comments are not available on this story.
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