As I sat around the campfire in the beautiful Poconos last night with the CeaseFirePA team for our staff retreat, the news streamed in: more than 20 murdered and dozens injured at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewistown, Maine. People sheltering in place at businesses, homes and Bates College.
We sat with the news weighing on our hearts. We stared into the night sky and remembered the darkness – almost exactly five years ago to the day – when similar news began to pour out of a synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
How many more lives will it take for our legislators to act? How many more funerals?
It’s already too many. After sitting with the pain for a few minutes, our team went back to work because our movement will not rest until lawmakers have acted.
A person of interest is still at large in Maine, but we know bipartisan solutions exist. An Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) may have prevented this horror. The suspect – an Army reservist and firearm safety instructor – reportedly was committed to a mental health facility after “hearing voices” and threatening to shoot up a military base. The warning signs were there, but there was limited legal ability to temporarily remove firearms from this individual who was clearly in crisis. And now dozens of families are forever incomplete.
Chairwoman Baker could schedule a hearing on the bipartisan Extreme Risk Protection Order legislation tomorrow. We cannot wait another day.
No matter what extremists or the gun industry say, this isn’t an urban or rural issue. It’s not a Democrat or Republican issue. It’s an American issue. It’s an American crisis. And it’s too many bodies past time for our American elected officials to end it.
My heart is with you today. My heart is with Lewistown today. And my anger is with our elected officials who’ve waited too long to act.
