A panel reported that a Maine law could have allowed the sheriff to seize the guns from a man who killed 18 people in a mass shooting in Lewiston four months earlier.
Gov. Janet Mills (D‑ME) and Attorney General Aaron Frey assembled the panel to issue a report on the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office, particularly when it came to the case of the late U.S. Army reservist Robert Card. According to the panel, the office had the prerogative to act under Maine’s “yellow flag” law, which allows for the confiscation of firearms from a person who is seen as a danger to themselves or the public following a medical assessment.
The law was passed in 2019 to supplement the state’s own right to bear arms in its Constitution. Last year, the state failed to pass laws on background checks for private firearm sales or a 72-hour waiting period before a firearm purchase.
The p …