In Lewiston, which is still trying to heal and make sense of the October 2023 shooting two years later, supporters of Question 2 said the law is a necessary backstop following clear evidence that the state’s yellow flag law is not enough.
Lewiston Councilor Susan Longchamps said the Question 2 results Tuesday show that the Lewiston shooting and the well-documented breakdown in systems that led to it, is “without a doubt still near and dear to a lot of people, and will be for a long time.”
“So, anything they can do, especially in Lewiston, to prevent something like that, they’ll come out and support it,” she said.
At the polls Tuesday, several people said that they came out to vote yes on Question 2. That included Gayle Shannon, who said Question 2 hit close to home.
Shannon said it’s “important to have,” and is especially meaningful for Lewiston people who have continued to see evidence that such a law was needed in the days and weeks before the Oct. 25, 2023, shooting.
A Lewiston resident outside Longley School who declined to give his name said Yes on 2 seemed to be common sense.
“We’ve got weirdos with guns, look at what’s happened,” he said. “Someone should turn them in, it shouldn’t happen. There were a lot of mistakes all the way through, and no one owning up to them.”
Both Lewiston and Auburn also voted in favor of a gun background check referendum in 2016, even though it failed statewide.
Lewiston Councilor Josh Nagine, who joined the council just weeks after the 2023 shooting, said he voted in favor of Question 2. While he understands some of the concern over false reporting and adding restrictions for legal gun owners, “I also know that one life is too many.”
“The truth is it’s very easy to get a gun in this country and our state,” he said. “Having a tool to address threats of violence from people who are legal gun owners but might not be in the right mental capacity to have that right safely has value.”
At the same time, Nagine said the larger issue is support for mental health services. He said with Lewiston shooter Robert Card, there was plenty of opportunity for intervention and it failed. Even with a red flag law, systems meant to stop violence may fail, he said, making mental health outreach and community building an important endeavor.
“We have to look at where we’re putting our resources,” he said. “But if this is a conduit to address that and remove an immediate danger, I support it.”
Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline called the Yes on 2 victory “a decisive step toward a safer future.”
“For communities across Maine, especially in Lewiston where the call for such legislation has been deeply felt, this victory is a testament to our collective commitment to public safety,” he said. “The successful passage of Question 2 is a decision to prioritize our communities and one another.”
