Posted on 10/30/2023 7:22:05 PM PDT by DoodleBob
Facts are now emerging in the case of Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card which suggest a string of failures, at least to follow through, and at least one success on the part of a firearms retailer, preceded the Oct. 25 tragedy in Lewiston, Maine that left 18 people dead and 13 injured.
And there is something else: Maine is a gun rights friendly state, yet none of the victims was apparently able to fight back.
CNN is reporting that the Maine National Guard “asked local police to check on” Card back on Sept. 16, after another soldier reported the suspect’s behavior, apparently indicating a concern Card would “snap and commit a mass shooting.”
The Associated Press reported that police across the state had been alerted in September to watch for Card, but evidently that alert didn’t result in contact with the Army reservist. One lawman, Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry, did act on the tip he received from the Army Reserve about Card’s threats. He reportedly sent the alert to all law enforcement agencies in Maine, but acknowledged Card apparently could not be located. Merry’s jurisdiction encompasses Bowdoin, where the suspected killer resided. He could not immediately recall any follow-up, but the fact remains law enforcement was aware of Card’s troubles at least a month before the shooting.
There was one report worthy of notice. ABC News is reporting how firearms retailer Coastal Defense Firearms refused to complete the transfer of a suppressor (silencer) Card wanted to purchase because he acknowledged on a federal form he had been committed for a mental health issue. Retailer Rich LaChapelle told the news agency his staff allowed Card to complete the paperwork but when they spotted his answer to the mental health inquiry, they declined to complete the transaction.
At that point, Card left the business.
Ironically, LaChapelle is the president of the Lewiston City Council. As noted by the New York Post, LaChapelle suggested the mayhem could have been worse if Card had obtained the silencer because “survivors would not have been alerted by the sound of the gunfire and failed to seek cover.”
In the aftermath of the deadly rampage, anti-gunners including President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have called for additional gun controls, including bans on so-called “assault weapons” and “high-capacity magazines,” waiting periods and other measures.
But the suspected killer’s history shows the waiting period would not have mattered because he apparently legally purchased the rifle prior to his hospitalization, months before the shooting. The background check already exists, and by filling out the paperwork, Card tripped himself up allowing the retailer to deny the silencer purchase.
There is no small irony in that because Biden also called for repeal of the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which protects the firearms industry from junk lawsuits. It was LaChapelle’s business—a firearms dealership—which actually fulfilled its existing legal requirement by refusing to complete the transaction involving the suppressor.
Still, the Biden administration has continued its war on the firearms industry. Fox Business is reporting that the Department of Commerce has halted “most civilian firearm exports” for 90 days, allegedly citing national security concerns.
Card was found dead last Friday evening with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His body was in the back of a storage trailer about a mile from where his abandoned car was discovered near a boat ramp, several miles south from Lewiston, where the shooting occurred at two separate locations.
Responding to the push for more gun restrictions, the Second Amendment Foundation noted reports that at least one of the businesses targeted by the killer was a “gun-free zone” where patrons were asked to not bring firearms into the premises.
SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, referring to the suspect’s “recent history of mental health problems,” noted there apparently had been no attempt to confiscate his firearms.
“The suspect’s reported condition this past summer should have made him a prohibited person from gun possession,” Gottlieb said. “The knee-jerk demands from anti-gunners, from Joe Biden on down, to penalize honest citizens amounts to a disgusting exploitation of a horrible tragedy for which one person alone is responsible. Disarming gun owners has never helped prevent a crime in the past, and it certainly won’t prevent tragedies in the future.”
Is your life worth protecting? If so, whose responsibility is it to protect it? If you believe that it is the police's, not only are you wrong -- since the courts universally rule that they have no legal obligation to do so -- but you face some difficult moral quandaries. How can you rightfully ask another human being to risk his life to protect yours, when you will assume no responsibility yourself?...One who values his life and takes seriously his responsibilities to his family and community will possess and cultivate the means of fighting back...He will never be content to rely solely on others for his safety, or to think he has done all that is possible by being aware of his surroundings and taking measures of avoidance.
The awareness about which Snyder wrote applies literally to every situation under the sun - not just crazy people or thieves in the night or bad dudes in an alley, but bureaucrats in lab coats and college faculty in sport coats.
Even in a gun-friendly state, Bad Things can happen. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
And apparently there was no communication between New York (where the perp had spent two weeks in the mental hospital) and Maine.
Ain’t HIPPA great?
/s
Always does. The law enforcement always knew about every one of these murdering bass turds.
Aside from that he was an evil person, we know very little about Robert Card. We know nothing of his history if he had a manifesto and any social media posts.
Both!
Watch Lists are a total scam.
Ain’t nobody watching nobody on any Watch Lists.
SWATing MAGA peeps though? Heck YA!
Is it odd that modern day CCTV and surveillance cameras are hi-def, 1080 type stuff, yet the picture they show of they guy with the rifle is a grainy image that looks like it came from a convenience store from the 90s
That being said, IMHO, the guy with the rifle doesn’t look like the other picture/mugshot they’re showing.
One thing we’ll never see is the crime scene photos of the person they found.
Speaking as an IT guy, a lot of ostensibly high def 1080 cameras actually have pretty crappy quality. Further, many DVRs use bad lossy compression so the results aren’t that great.
You have to get up into the 4K cameras to get consistently good quality. Additionally, there’s a lot of older systems still out there because not everyone wants to or can upgrade.
The Rats will permit if not facilitate mass shootings until they can achieve their ultimate fantasies of super massive, jackbooted genocide.
Good point.
So, at this point do you trust anything the media or the powers that be, push to the public?
I do not.
I saw a story that showed what looked like a mugshot of the guy. To me, it doesn’t look like they guy holding the rifle.
Well, he was “previously known” to law enforcement, soooooooo it’s their fault.
The already existing laws if applied to him (maybe) would have delayed him somewhat.
Well they had that yellow law and nobody did anything. That would’ve helped.
Haven’t trusted them in decades. They lost me for good when I attended various events then looked at the media coverage and wondered if we’d been at the same event at all.
Same. The guy with the rifle looks middle eastern, at least he does not look like the crazy guy they call Robert Card.
Did Law or Law Enforcement fail?
Or did ‘MK Ultra’ succeed?
/tinhat
Red / yellow flag laws do nothing when they are ignored by LEOs. We cannot expect any protection from “common sense gun laws” with all of these bozo commiecrats in charge. Constitutional carry is the only viable solution.
I’m no expert, but I think a suppressed AR in a bowling alley would nake sufficient noise to alert people. Still, I find this curious from the standpoint if him attacking a deaf bowling league.
government intended they knew like most mass shootings
Ping!
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