Robert Card, the person who allegedly committed the Maine mass shooting, is deceased. Yet the signs missed are stark reminders that whenever human beings are involved, mistakes can be made that have fatal repercussions. Police were warned by a fellow guardsman that Card could “snap and commit a mass shooting,” but they were unable to contact him. Although Maine has a “yellow flag” law in place, there was no follow-up, and no guns were confiscated. That situation occurred in September 2023.
It was widely reported that Card was taken to a mental facility in July of this year at the behest of the US Army while training at West Point in New York. What was not known until after the fact was that Maine police were alerted to his erratic behavior in September as well. But he even disclosed his mental issue on the Federal Firearms form. Who missed it?
Personnel from “the Sagadahoc County and Kennebec County Sheriff’s Offices” responded to the Maine National Guard request by trying to make contact with Card on September 16, 2023.
A sergeant from the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office was alerted, “When [he] answers the door at his trailer, in the past he usually does so with a handgun in hand out of view from the person outside.”
The personnel from the sheriff’s offices were not successful in making contact. CNN notes that a document filed with the welfare check paperwork makes clear that at least one of Card’s fellow guardsman was “concerned that [the reservist] is going to snap and commit a mass shooting.” Breitbart
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The “flag laws” are designed to remove firearms from people who are a danger to themselves or others. Card was hospitalized for mental issues in July, but even though New York has a red flag law, his guns were not confiscated. Maine’s yellow flag law requires a mental health professional to sign off on whether a person is a danger. It appears that no one advised Maine officials about Card’s hospitalization in New York.
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Maine’s public safety commissioner, Michael Sauschuck, said on Saturday that investigators are still collecting records on Card’s mental health, including any documentation about the incidents in New York and his two-week stay at a hospital there. New York’s more sweeping red flag law has been employed thousands of times but it was unclear whether the National Guard or New York State police reported anything about Card to law enforcement officials in Maine.
Card obtained his guns lawfully, some just days before the shooting, according to federal officials. And Sauschuck pointed out that, under federal law, voluntarily checking oneself into a hospital for mental evaluation would not trigger a report to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, known as NICS.
“So in this scenario, we have not seen to this point, I have not seen to this point, that Mr. Card was forcibly committed,” Sauschuck told reporters during a press conference the day after Card’s body was found in Lisbon, ending a massive manhunt. “And if that didn’t happen then the NICS check, you could go into a firearms dealer who does all of their work and the background check is not going to ping that this person is prohibited.” Maine Public
State to state information flow is always iffy. And people constantly make mistakes because they are human. Putting such laws in federally is a horrible answer, because people still make mistakes and information is still iffy. The more laws instituted, the more difficult the tasks. The more laws, the less personal rights.
As we have stated previously, mental illness is a huge problem with these types of incidents. There are giant-sized holes in the mental health systems throughout the nation. In any mass shooting there are signs missed. But when communication fails, or people fail to do their jobs fully, people die. More laws will not fix the problem, it will only add to the complicated nature of dealing with mental illness.
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Related:
- Maine Shooting: At Least 18 Dead, 13 Injured, Suspect Still at Large.
- OUTRAGE: Maine High School Slips Antidepressant ZOLOFT Into Student’s Secret Take-Home Baggie, Calls CPS On Dad For Complaining About It
- What? University of Maine offers course credit to anti-Kavanaugh students to harass GOP Sen. Susan Collins
- Maine Democrat Caught on Tape Celebrating White Male Suicide Rate
- Maine battle over background checks splits police chiefs, sheriffs
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