U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has introduced a bill in response to the mass shooting in Lewiston that would require U.S. military services to use state crisis intervention laws when a service member poses a serious threat to themselves or others.
The bill, cosponsored by Maine’s other senator, U.S. Sen. Angus King, comes nearly a year after Robert Card II, an Army reservist, killed 18 and injured 13 at a bowling alley and a bar. Multiple reports have pointed to missed opportunities by law enforcement and the military to intervene before Card, 40, committed Maine’s deadliest shooting.
The final report released last month from a commission appointed by Gov. Janet Mills found that the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office had probable cause to take Card into protective custody at his Bowdoin home in September 2023 and use Maine’s yellow flag to seize his firearms.
Separate investigations by the Army Reserve and the Army’s inspector general released in July said three Army Reserve officers were disciplined for a “series of failures” and identified errors by local law enforcement and medical professionals in New York, where Card was hospitalized last July after fellow reservists became concerned about his erratic behavior.
Collins said her bill, Armed Forces Crisis Intervention Notification Act, would require U.S. military services to utilize state crisis intervention programs like Maine’s yellow flag law and to fully participate in the laws’ judicial proceedings, while protecting the Second Amendment and due process rights of service members.
“While the shooter was responsible for his horrific actions, multiple independent investigations revealed that there were numerous missed opportunities to potentially intervene and prevent this tragedy,” Collins, a Republican, said in a statement.
