Police have stepped up their use of Maine’s ‘yellow flag’ law since the state’s deadliest mass shooting

PORTLAND, Maine – There has been a dramatic increase in requests from law enforcement to Maine courts to authorize the seizure of firearms from people deemed dangerous to themselves or others since the deadliest mass shooting in state history, the governor said Friday.

Maine’s extreme risk protection order law was strengthened after an Army reservist killed 18 people at two locations in Lewiston last October. Since the attacks, the law has been used 15 times more often than in the previous three years, Gov. Janet Mills said at a news conference.

“It is clear that after last year’s tragedy, more and more law enforcement officers across the state are taking this law seriously, have completed state-provided training on its use and are now using it daily to take firearms away from those who should not have them,” Mills said.

The governor did not say how often courts have granted such requests under the strengthened law. Gun control advocates say such so-called “yellow flag” and “red flag” laws are essential to keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people, including those with serious mental illness. Some in the gun lobby argue that such laws infringe on people’s constitutional right to bear arms.

Mills’ news conference came hours after state police released a report outlining lessons learned following the Oct. 25, 2023, mass shooting and making multiple recommendations to improve tactical response, incident management, training and other areas.

One of the report’s key recommendations is that state police incorporate new active shooter training “for a more coordinated response during significant incidents and/or mass casualty incidents.”

The shooting took place at a bowling alley and a bar-restaurant. It was later revealed that the shooter was an army reservist whose mental health had deteriorated in the months leading up to the attacks.

Shooter Robert Card was found dead after the shooting, after a lengthy search. Mills has commissioned an independent commission to examine the circumstances of the attack.

The commission released its own report last month, and Mills commented on it publicly for the first time Friday. The report said the Army Reserve and police missed opportunities to intervene in Card’s mental health crisis and take steps to seize his weapons.

The governor said she agreed with those findings. She also said the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office could have invoked the risk protection order but did not. In fact, there are no documented instances of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office using the order prior to the shootings, according to state records.

“At its core, this tragedy was caused by a colossal failure of human judgment by multiple people, repeatedly; a profound negligence that — as the commission rightly said — constituted an abdication of responsibility,” Mills said.

Mills also acknowledged the findings recently released by the State Police. The New England State Police Administrators Compact will conduct an independent review of the new report, the State Police said. Mills said she applauds the decision.

The state police report doesn’t just describe the problems. It also details areas where authorities met best practice standards. In a section evaluating the work of the Maine State Police tactical team, officials concluded that “the manhunt was an overall success,” with Card located within 48 hours without any injuries to members of the public or law enforcement.

But the report also highlights other problems, including a “massive and uncontrolled influx” of self-deployed officers onto the scene.

The report describes the response to two 911 hang-up calls from Card’s mother’s home. As a tactical unit prepared to dispatch an armored vehicle, a group of U.S. police arrived and evacuated the residence. In another instance, a team in an armored vehicle drove onto a bridge near where Card’s car was found, nearly hitting other law enforcement officers working there in the dark.

The report recommends that warnings about autonomous deployment be incorporated into annual police training and that in the event of an emergency, officers should inform the command post of their intervention or wait to be dispatched to the scene.

He also recommends searching a suspect’s home as soon as possible, noting that Card’s home was not searched until more than 14 hours after the shooting.

“Areas of interest, such as the suspect’s vehicle, should be processed immediately to obtain information for apprehension, not hours later,” he said.

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Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire.