AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills briefly mentioned Uncle Henry’s, a Maine institution synonymous with classified ads, during last month’s State of the State address when she proposed expanding background check requirements to advertised gun sales.
But Uncle Henry’s President Kevin Webb said the governor’s plan in the wake of Maine’s deadliest-ever mass shooting on Oct. 25 that left 18 dead and 13 injured in Lewiston is trying to solve “the wrong problem.”
“It’s really just a false sense of security,” Webb said. “[The Lewiston shooting] had nothing to do with private sales.”
Mills, a Democrat, said during her State of the State address last month that she would propose requiring the sale of any firearms advertised through Uncle Henry’s, Craigslist, gun shows or other means to go through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to help ensure the buyer is not prohibited from possessing guns.
That expansion, which is not nearly as far-reaching as the universal background check referendum Mills and a majority of Maine voters opposed in 2016, would build on an existing requirement for commercial sales at federally licensed firearm dealers. Gun control advocates and various Democratic lawmakers reacted with optimism to the plan that is still awaiting official text, while Republicans have largely panned it.
Webb said Mills and lawmakers should consider how Robert Card II, a 40-year-old Army reservist from Bowdoin, was “already on everybody’s radar” before his October rampage at a Lewiston bowling alley and bar. Police have not confirmed how, where and when Card acquired the military-style rifle and other weapons found by his body and in his vehicle.
But Card’s Army Reserve peers and family had warned police in May and September of his declining mental state, access to guns and threats to “shoot up” places. Following a 48-hour manhunt after the mass shooting, Card was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a trailer by a Lisbon recycling center.
Mills said she also wants to upgrade the crime of selling firearms to a person prohibited from possessing them from a misdemeanor to a felony. She also proposed a tweak to Maine’s “yellow flag” law, which allows police to take weapons away from people deemed dangerous by a medical professional and a judge.
Mills wants to allow police to take people into protective custody under “unusual circumstances. Sheriff’s deputies went to Card’s home in September to check on him but said they could not further act when he did not answer the door.
Webb noted some sellers with listings for guns and accessories in Uncle Henry’s already mention the need to conduct a background check or obtain identification from prospective buyers. Other listings only include a description of the items for sale and contact information for the seller. There were nearly 100 listings in the firearms section of a recent edition.
Uncle Henry’s was founded in 1969 by Rockland print shop owner Henry Faller and is printed in Augusta, with listings for guns and a vast array of other items. The magazine is based in Augusta and serves Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and New Brunswick.
Mills, who said her proposal came together after conversations with Republican and Democratic lawmakers along with groups throughout Maine, recognized during her State of the State that the “legislation may be too little to those who believe more is needed, while, on the other hand, it may be too much to those who believe the opposite.”
“But violence is not a simple problem, nor is the remedy a single, simple measure,” Mills said. “And these proposals represent progress, and they do not trample on anybody’s rights.”
Webb said no government officials have approached Uncle Henry’s to ask for opinions on potential solutions to gun violence. He did credit Mills with trying to tackle the issue while also proposing the creation of more crisis receiving centers to treat people with mental health struggles in Maine but criticized the policymakers’ patterns on guns.
“Both sides of the aisle do the same thing,” Webb said. “They try to make people feel good when in reality they’re not doing anything of real value.”
