President Biden called for “reasonable, responsible” gun control during a visit Friday to Lewiston, Maine, after the killing of 18 people last week by a mentally ill gunman.
“I know consensus is finally possible,” Biden said in a four-minute speech before meeting with the victims’ families.
“This is about common sense, common sense, taking responsibility to protect our children, our families, our communities — because regardless of our politics, this is about protecting our freedom to go to a bowling alley, a restaurant, a school, a church without being shot and killed ,” he said.
Biden declined to offer specific recommendations, but has previously called for a federal ban on semiautomatic weapons, which have been used in numerous mass shootings.
The proposal is opposed by congressional Republicans and is therefore unlikely to pass.
The massacre in Lewiston — known nationally as the home of Bates College — sparked debate over the enforcement of gun control laws already in place because of a recent history of mental illness and violent threats.
President Biden called for “reasonable, responsible” gun control during a visit Friday to Lewiston, Maine.REUTERS Biden declined to offer specific proposals but has supported banning semiautomatic weapons in the past.REUTERS
Army reservist Robert Card, 40, carried out the killing with a semi-automatic rifle he legally purchased in July – just 10 days before he told Army members he was “hearing voices” and had fantasies about “hurting other soldiers,” resulting in a two-week stay in psychiatric hospital.
Card killed patrons at a Lewiston bowling alley and restaurant before dying by suicide.
Maine adopted a “yellow flag” law in 2019 that allows authorities to confiscate the guns of people with mental illness. This law differs from better-known “red flag” laws in that it aims to give greater rights to gun owners.
Robert Card, 40, killed customers at a bowling alley and restaurant before dying by suicide. Facebook / Robert Card
The law outlines a process by which police can – after placing someone in “protective custody” – take away their weapons if they are determined by a “medical practitioner” to be “mentally ill” or a threat to themselves or others.
If the person “shows a foreseeable possibility of danger”, the police “shall” ask for a court order to take away the weapon, the law says, prompting a hearing within 14 days. The judge can issue a confiscation order for a period of one year.
Card’s sister-in-law Katie Card told NBC News how before the mass shooting, the family had alerted police and his Army Reserve base of their concerns about him hearing voices because they were “growing worried.”
Maine adopted a “yellow flag” law in 2019 that allows authorities to confiscate the guns of people with mental illness. Lewiston Maine Police Department
The police report states that an officer spoke to Card’s brother about taking his gun from him but it is unclear if that actually happened.
Biden last year signed a bipartisan federal gun law — passed after 18-year-old Salvador Ramos killed 21 at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas — that increased federal background checks for gun buyers under 21 and offered financial incentives to states to adopt “red”. flag law.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
