Last week, I joined Moms Demand Action for an advocacy day at the Maine State House. Many of those who gathered have been working for reasonable gun safety legislation for a decade. Some, like me, were especially moved by the preventable mass shooting our state experienced last year.

It is clear to me that Maine needs a red flag law so that family and health care providers can block individuals in crisis from having or getting guns through obtaining a court order. In addition to preventing mass shootings, we may also be able to prevent firearm suicides which have added to the gun deaths in our state. Our communities will be safer if we increase our ability to prevent people in a state of crisis from acting on impulse and ending their own lives and/or the lives of others.

Red flag laws contain due process protections and penalties for those making false claims. I know our legislature and governor have the ability to pass and sign red flag laws to help professionals de-escalate emergency situations before they become state-scarring tragedies. Please contact your state legislature and ask them to pass a red flag law.

Jane Beckwith

Randolph

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