What We Know About the Maine Killer

It still isn’t much right now and I have more questions than we currently have answers. Where is the suspect? Is he a prohibited possessor? Was he ever adjudicated to be mentally ineligible to legally possess or carry due to dangerousness?

The suspect was "committed," not "admitted” (which everyone seems careful to report, indicating it was involuntary) to a mental institution for two weeks this summer before being released. The hold reportedly took place while he was on reserve duty at West Point. Involuntary commitment means ineligibility to legally carry or purchase. The length of stay sounds longer than just an emergency evaluation. Was it involuntary? Was there an adjudication process before release? It seems wild that they would hold him so long without one. If so, was it reported to NCIC? If not, why? Was his release conditional upon ongoing treatment? Was he taking anything? If it was involuntary, was the Division of Criminal Justice Services made aware so they could pull this guy’s permit and then seize his guns as required by the SAFE Act? The rifle he’s holding in the widely-distributed photo looks like one that fits New York’s arbitrary definition of “assault weapon,” meaning it has seven or more “military features,” including a detachable magazine. Was it acquired before or after his commitment? If before, or even if before returning to Maine, how did he purchase it legally in New York, if he did? If he purchased it in Maine, how, considering his previous commitment?

Was yellow flag law ever invoked in Maine? Family told the press that his mental health had gone dramatically downhill in the last year. Maine has a soft version of the red flag laws the other 21 states have passed. Their version differs in that Maine requires a mental health professional’s involvement from the first step and the only people who can petition the court are law enforcement. In New York’s (and other states) one-sided version, every Tom, Dick, and Harry can petition the court in an ex parte process where respondents won’t get their say until the deprivation hearing a couple of weeks later.

There is so much we don't yet know and it's necessary to know so we know how to fight such evil. One thing I do know: A lot of people who watched what happened to Israel on October 7th, who saw stories of Jewish families attacked here, who now see this monster murder people in a manner Hamas would love to do are grateful for their Second Amendment right of self defense.

Our right to self defense isn’t predicated on arbitrary rules for social utility. Gun control trades life for the specter of security that the state has proven time and again it is unable and unwilling to provide.

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