By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Shocking, but unsurprising new revelations in the case of the man who murdered 18 people one week ago in a mass shooting in Maine are reinforcing assertions by gun rights organizations that anti-gunners, including President Joe Biden, are exploiting the tragedy to advance a gun control agenda which has little or no connection to the crime.
The Boston Globe is reporting that the killer, identified as Robert Card, had been involuntarily committed to a New York hospital in July. This should have automatically disqualified him from firearms purchases or possession, but Globe reporters learned a string of oversights apparently contributed to the tragedy.
In a separate report, the newspaper confirmed Wednesday that Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) will launch an independent probe into the Oct. 25 attack which left victims in a bowling alley and nearby restaurant.
These revelations come on the heels of a New York Times report which revealed Card had been turned down in an effort to purchase a suppressor (silencer) for the rifle believed to have been used in the rampage. Card bought the rifle this past summer, about ten days before his reported mental troubles began surfacing.
Two days after he opened fire at the two Lewiston establishments, lawmen found Card’s body at the back end of a storage trailer for big truck about a mile from where his car was found after the shooting. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
An ABC News report noted the speed with which the events of Oct. 25 unfolded. The killer arrived at the Just-In-Time bowling alley “shortly before 7 p.m.” where he killed seven people. At 7:08 p.m., he arrived at the Schemengees Bar & Grille about four miles from the first crime scene and killed eight more people. Three more victims died at a nearby hospital.
REPORT: MAINE MAYHEM NOT RESULT OF ‘WEAK GUN LAWS’
Such after-the-fact revelations are nothing new for observers in the Second Amendment community who have gotten used to what Alan Gottlieb at the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms called “kneejerk legislation” proposals from the gun prohibition lobby and its allies on Capitol Hill and in the White House.
There is a pattern of missed or ignored warning signs, or failure to follow through. In the Card case, it may be worse because, according to the Boston Globe account, there had been “A warning from a (Army) reservist in September that Card ‘going to snap and commit a mass shooting.’”
The newspaper also noted the failure by the local sheriff’s department to make contact with Card during two “wellness checks.” Also, the sheriff’s department allowed Card’s family to keep his firearms and lock them up, rather than allow law enforcement to intervene, presumably under California’s “yellow flag” law.
As long ago as May, the gunman’s family—his ex-wife and teenage son—reportedly told authorities about Card’s behavior, which included reports of “hearing voices.”
Gottlieb and other leaders in the Second Amendment community have seen this before. A mass shooting occurs, anti-gunners immediately call for more gun restrictions, and only days after an event do facts emerge in an investigation revealing “warning sign” behavior for weeks, perhaps even months, prior to an event.
This underscores the relevance of a new Rasmussen survey released Wednesday showing more American voters think existing gun laws need stricter enforcement rather than additional laws in order to curb gun-related violence.
As reported earlier by TGM, 71 percent of Republicans and 58 percent of Independent voters say enforcing existing laws will do more to prevent gun-related violence while 43 percent of Democrats agree.
