Can Maine shooting and public support for red flag laws finally spur action?

Last week’s horrific shooting in Maine that left 18 dead and 13 others wounded has already raised the questions that have become familiar after mass casualty events. What motivated the suspect, 40-year-old Robert Card, to go on his rampage in a Lewiston bowling alley and bar? Why was the U.S. Army reservist, who had been hospitalized for a serious mental illness as recently as this past summer (an episode that reportedly included hearing voices in his head), not under closer supervision? And how is it that he had unfettered access to the powerful semi-automatic assault rifle that was used in his attack?

The last question has a relatively easy yet troubling answer. Maine does not have a “red flag,” or “extreme risk protection order,” law that allows loved ones or law enforcement officials to petition a court to prevent someone at great risk of doing harm to themselves or others from having access to firearms. Card owned multiple guns. Here was someone who may have been divorced from reality, whose behavioral problems were not even hidden from those who knew him, who had a military-style assault weapon — often the choice for mass shootings in this country — and authorities in Maine were powerless to do much about it.