Posted by Claire O’Neil.
“Why Maine’s ‘yellow flag’ gun law so clearly isn’t enough” written by Christian Heyne, Chief Policy & Programs Officer, highlights why gun laws just simply aren’t enough to protect us against mass shootings. Recently, in Lewiston, Maine, another mass shooting has occurred resulting in the loss of eighteen lives. Other countries do not seem to experience mass shootings like the United States does. However, under our constitution “the right to bear arms” still holds strong. The media seems to want to highlight that the shooter had a mental illness and that was the cause of the shooting. However, the article suggests that by scapegoating mental illness it is “irresponsibly promoting the myth that links mental illness with dangerous perpetuates stigmas that create even more barriers to mental health care.”
According to the article, “extreme risk laws are a proven and effective way to prevent gun suicides and mass shootings.” A “yellow flag law” was implemented in Maine with the intention of preventing gun violence by stopping those with a history of mental illness from obtaining firearms. However, this law lacks the public health perspective necessary to have an impact because it only permits law enforcement to file a petition. This does not include family and friends. The yellow flag law in Maine really functions in direct opposition to extreme risk laws. The article states that extreme risk laws “work by empowering law enforcement, families or other professionals to ask a court to temporarily prohibit an individual’s access to firearms if that person shows they are at risk of harming themselves or others.”
These rules, which prevent not only mass shootings but also gun suicides, which account for three out of every five gun deaths in the United States each year, are now only present in 21 states plus the District of Columbia. “The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, signed into law last year by President Joe Biden, will invest $750 million over five years to educate the public so that extreme risk laws can be used as effectively and efficiently as possible.” In my opinion, this article highlights our constitutional law of “the right to bear arms” while also explaining the relevance of state gun laws. The United States seems to endure mass shootings far too frequently, and our laws are at fault for not protecting our people better. In my opinion, there needs to be a way to ensure that guns do not get into the hands of people who cannot use them in the appropriate ways. We also need to put the appropriate people in positions to make these decisions and laws that will actually make a difference instead of continuing with the seemingly never-ending cycle of gun violence in America.
Claire is a communications major at Seton Hall University, Class of 2025.