{"id":2224098,"date":"2024-04-18T11:39:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T15:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maine-lawmakers-reinforce-yellow-flag-law-and-expand-background-checks-six-months-after-mass-shooting\/"},"modified":"2024-04-18T11:44:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T15:44:16","slug":"maine-lawmakers-reinforce-yellow-flag-law-and-expand-background-checks-six-months-after-mass-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maine-lawmakers-reinforce-yellow-flag-law-and-expand-background-checks-six-months-after-mass-shooting\/","title":{"rendered":"Maine legislators strengthen &#8216;yellow flag&#8217; law and broaden background checks in response to mass shooting six months ago"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmaine-lawmakers-reinforce-yellow-flag-law-and-expand-background-checks-six-months-after-mass-shooting%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2224098&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In response to the deadliest mass\u200c shooting in Maine&#8217;s history six months ago, Democratic lawmakers have reinforced the state&#8217;s \u200d&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-gop-advances-two-election-integrity-bills\/\" title=\"Arizona GOP Advances Two Election Integrity Bills\">yellow flag<\/a>&#8221; laws. These laws target individuals facing mental health\u2062 crises to prevent firearm access. The\u200d legislation, if enacted earlier, could have potentially prevented the tragic events in Lewiston. The response to the deadliest mass shooting in Maine&#8217;s history has led Democratic lawmakers to strengthen the state&#8217;s &#8220;yellow flag&#8221; laws. These <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservative-attorneys-general-condemn-target-for-pride-campaign-transanity\/\" title=\"Conservative AGs criticize Target's 'Pride' campaign and 'transanity'.\">laws focus<\/a> on individuals experiencing mental \u200bhealth crises to restrict their access to firearms. If implemented earlier, this \u2062legislation might have averted \u200dthe \u2064tragic events in \u2062Lewiston.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_78\">\n<p>In the wake of the deadliest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mass-shootings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>mass shooting<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/maine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Maine<\/a> history <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/2924106\/maines-yellow-flag-law-would-have-allowed-sheriff-to-seize-shooters-gun-before-he-killed-18-people-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>six months ago<\/a>, Democratic state lawmakers have taken action.<\/p>\n<p>The Maine legislature passed bills strengthening the state\u2019s \u201cyellow flag\u201d laws, which aim to strip guns away from those suffering from psychiatric health crises. That legislation would have taken the Lewiston shooter\u2019s firearms away after he <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/lewiston-maine-shootings-robert-card-dfa37f9cb0fd9932792e5cf8c6bc6330\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>punched<\/a> a fellow Army reservist.<\/p>\n<p>Other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-backs-off-15-minimum-wage-as-virus-relief-plan-takes-shape\/\" title=\"Biden Backs Off  Minimum Wage As Virus Relief Plan Takes Shape\">legislation passed<\/a> would expand background checks for private sales of guns and make it a crime to sell a gun to someone who is prohibited from having guns. The bill also would fund violence protection initiatives and open a mental health crisis receiving center in Lewiston.<\/p>\n<p>The Democratic-controlled legislature also voted to include a 72-hour waiting period to purchase a firearm and ban bump stocks, but it did not institute a \u201cred flag\u201d law proposed by House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross that would give family members instead of police the authority to petition a judge to remove guns from a person in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nyc-homeless-hospitalization-policy-that-caught-backlash-has-helped-people-get-housed\/\" title=\"Controversial NYC policy aiding homeless individuals in securing housing.\">psychiatric crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The legislature worked overnight to force the legislation through in fear of passing Wednesday\u2019s adjournment date deadline.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Speaker of the House Rachel Talbot Ross, top right, arranges members of the House Democratic caucus for an end-of-session group photo on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at the Maine State House in Augusta, Maine. (Joe Phelan\/The Kennebec Journal via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Maine Republicans accused Democrats of using the Oct. 25, 2023, Lewiston shooting that claimed 18 lives as ammunition to push through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-wont-rule-out-using-executive-orders-to-crackdown-on-second-amendment-rights-white-house\/\" title=\"Biden Won\u2019t Rule Out Using Executive Orders To Crackdown On Second Amendment Rights: White House\">gun control measures<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy big concern here is that we\u2019re moving forward with gun legislation that has always been on the agenda,\u201d Republican state Sen. Lisa Keim said. \u201cNow we\u2019re using the tragedy in Lewiston to force it through when there\u2019s nothing new here. It\u2019s the same old ideas that were rejected year after year. Using the tragedy to advance legislation is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) introduced the legislation in response to the shooting, saying, \u201cDoing nothing is not an option,\u201d in her State of the State Address in January.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Six months after Maine&#8217;s deadliest mass shooting, Democratic lawmakers acted swiftly. New laws were passed to bolster the state&#8217;s &#8220;yellow flag&#8221; measures, targeting individuals in mental health crises to prevent firearm access. Following the incident, such legislation could have averted the tragedy in Lewiston<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2224099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24108827309430-1024x584.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2224098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24108827309430-1024x584.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2224098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2224099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2224098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2224098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2224098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}