Maine Governor Proposes Gun Control and Mental Health Measures Following State's Deadliest Shooting

The proposals include strengthening the state's yellow flag law, requiring background checks for private gun sales, and creating a statewide network of mental health crisis centers.

• Maine Governor Janet Mills has proposed a series of measures in response to the state's deadliest mass shooting, including strengthening the state's yellow flag law, increasing background checks for private gun sales, and enhancing mental health crisis care.
• The proposed changes would allow police officers to directly approach a judge to initiate the process of removing firearms from individuals in a psychiatric crisis, a response to the issue that arose when the shooter, an Army reservist, refused to answer the door for a required face-to-face meeting.
• Mills also aims to require background checks for advertised private gun sales, increase penalties for reckless private sales to prohibited individuals, and create a statewide network of crisis centers for people experiencing mental health emergencies.
• The governor's proposals also include the creation of a violence and injury prevention program that would require the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to serve as a data clearinghouse from various sources to inform public policy decisions.
• Despite the recent challenges, including the mass shooting and damaging coastal storms, Mills stated in her State of the State address that the state is 'getting stronger every day,' citing individual income growth, low unemployment, and business openings.

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