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The October 2023 mass killing in Lewiston has sparked a dramatic response in Maine. That tragic event four months ago awakened in our state an awareness that we must do all we can to make Maine a safer state to live in. Churches, organizations and individuals have risen to the challenge of advocating for meaningful legislation to address this.
Four areas that are being proposed are: more comprehensive background checks that will help to reduce the sale of guns to those who cannot use them responsibly; a 72-hour waiting period to help curb impulsive acts of gun violence; extreme risk protection orders to help reduce access to weapons to those who are identified as needing intervention by professional mental health care providers; and, the removal of military-style assault weapons with large magazines that are the guns of choice in many mass killings. Will these changes prevent gun violence? Of course not. But this type of legislation holds the most promise in limiting mass killings.
Gov. Janet Mills has proposed some changes in gun laws in Maine. We applaud both the acknowledgment of the need for such legislation and the effort to frame the legislative language that would address that need. This effort does not go far enough, however, to provide the measures that will help Mainers feel a higher degree of safety from gun violence for themselves and their children. It is imperative that we address gun violence with legislation that will help each and every citizen in our state feel that we have done our best.
Dana Williams
The First Church in Belfast Gun Safety Work Group
Belfast