By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Maine Democrat Gov. Janet Mills this week announced proposed legislation which she asserts will “enhance public safety by tightening Maine’s gun laws and strengthening the state’s mental health system,” the Portland Press-Herald is reporting.
The measure is her response to last year’s mass shooting in Lewiston, which was committed by a military reservist who had exhibited some mental problems earlier in the year.
However, while Mills wants to toughen up the state’s gun laws, the newspaper says gun control groups say her proposal does not go far enough. The Press-Herald quoted Nicole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, a gun control group, who described the Mills proposal as “a good first step.”
And Olivia Li, identified as legal counsel for the Michael Bloomberg-backed Everytown for Gun Safety lobbying group, reportedly contended the proposal would not “take many of the necessary steps to keep guns out of the hands of a person at risk of harming themselves or someone else.”
According to the announcement from Gov. Mills’ office, her proposed legislation would:
- Strengthen Maine’s Extreme Risk Protection Order Law:Citing the inability of law enforcement to take the Lewiston shooter into protective custody to initiate the extreme risk protection order law and remove his weapons, the Governor’s bill strengthens the law to allow law enforcement to seek a protective custody warrant signed by a judge, in unusual circumstances, to take a person into protective custody, providing them with another tool to use at their discretion to take dangerous people into custody to remove their weapons.
- Extend National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to Advertised, Private Sales: * **The Governor’s bill requires any advertised firearm sale to be checked against the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, as is required for commercial sales at federally licensed firearm dealers.
- Incentivize NICS Checks for Unadvertised, Private Sales: The Governor’s bill strengthens Maine law to make it easier to prosecute anyone who sells a gun to someone not allowed to have one and toughens Maine law to make that type of illegal sale a felony, not just a misdemeanor. This approach will mean that transfers of firearms to family members or trusted friends, as is common in Maine, will remain unchanged, but it will incentivize checks against the NICS system for private, unadvertised sales to unknown individuals through the threat of increased risk of prosecution and prison time.
The Governor’s bill is sponsored by Senator Peggy Rotundo and Representative Kristen Cloutier of Lewiston, with several co-sponsors, the governor’s office said.
According to the governor’s website, her proposal would also:
- Establish an Injury and Violence Prevention Program at the Maine CDC: Recognizing that Maine does not have a violence prevention program like many states, the Governor’s bill creates an Injury and Violence Prevention Program at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention as a central hub to bring together data about violence related injuries and deaths that is currently kept separate (such as in police reports, medical examiner files, and emergency department files) to allow Maine to identify patterns to inform public health and prevention measures to reduce suicides and homicides in Maine. This is supported by $1 million in the Governor’s supplemental budget.
- Strengthen Maine’s Mental Health System: The Governor’s bill proposes to establish a statewide network of crisis receiving centers – a proven model of behavioral crisis intervention – so that any person suffering a mental health crisis can get prompt and appropriate care. The bill proposes to establish a crisis receiving center in Lewiston – building on the successful Portland center and a similar one being established in Kennebec County – while developing and implementing a plan for a broader network that provides greater access to behavioral health services for people across the state. This is supported by $950,000 in one-time start-up funding and $450,000 in ongoing funds for the Lewiston crisis receiving center in the Governor’s supplemental budget.
