We have joined the club. Welcome to Shooter World.

Lockdowns and closures near and far. Thoughts and prayers and flags at half staff. An eerily quiet day in this otherwise bustling city.

So it has come to pass that Lewiston has been added to the list of communities where mass shootings have occurred. Sooner or later this was going to happen somewhere in Maine.

Although this state has a very high per capita rate of gun ownership, we have always thought of ourselves as living in a safe place and many statements have been made over the years that there is no need for this or that law that might infringe on gun ownership or usage.

Well, now is surely the time to reconsider that notion. When the leading cause of death of youths in this country is gun violence, and when there have already been 565 mass shootings (four or more victims) across the country this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, why are we still hesitant to pass stronger laws?

Some say it is just a matter of mental health.  That was certainly appears to be the case with Robert Card and many others, but when guns are so readily available, psychiatric treatment would hardly slow things down. As it happens, psych caregivers are in short supply, as are health professionals overall. Months go by before those in need can first be seen.

And looking at it another way, the reports of increased anxiety and depression in the populace can be partly attributed to the threat of gun violence. A whole generation of school children, and for that matter college students, are now growing up with active shooter drills, backpack checks, locked school entrances, and so forth.

A good while ago kids were worried about atomic bombs; guns are closer to home and less abstract. A good while ago, Roy Rogers and Matt Dillon and their Colt 45s took care of the bad guys while only getting winged now and then. Nowadays, police wear body armor. I don’t think that Joe Friday or Columbo needed that precaution.

Can we please get serious about background checks? In 2016, the question came up as a referendum, and it got 48.2% approval. Given all the active shooter events since then, now including our own, don’t you think that the dial would now pass the 50% mark?

States with stiffer background check laws have lower homicide and suicide rates than Maine. Same with states that require waiting periods before the purchase of guns.

Can we stop the sale of weapons of war — the assault weapons that are mowing people down at bowling alleys, bars, churches, synagogues, theaters and schools? Can we limit the size of magazines? Deer are protected more than humans; hunters can only have five bullets at hand at a time, while mass shooters can fire 10, 20, 30 rounds — whatever — in no time flat. While “machine gun” sales have been banned since the 1930s, modern semi-automatic rifles with bump stocks are almost as deadly.

Maine law requires boat safety education for unaccompanied operators of motorized vessels older than the age of 12 years. Does Maine require gun safety education for operators older than 12?  Why not? Guns may just be a bit more dangerous to the populace than boats.

Maine has a “yellow flag” law that requires medical authorization before police can petition a judge to order the removal of someone’s weapons. This is a time-consuming process, even in this age of telemedicine, and can obviously delay life saving intervention.

Many states have “red flag” laws that eliminate that step and help save lives. Maine should join those ranks.

I have a glossy copy of the Maine Opioid Response 2023-2025 Strategic Action Plan. It lists 12 strategies, all meritorious, to prevent early addiction, to support those in recovery, to maintain inventories of harm reduction treatments, and so forth. Nowhere is there any mention of firearms.

Don’t guns facilitate the distribution of meth and coke and fentanyl? Every week we read about traffic stops where umpteen grams of one drug or another are found. What else is often found? A gun or two. Perhaps background checks would help limit the outflow of guns to Massachusetts and the inflow of drugs to Maine.

Years ago I was involved in the campaign for a seat belt law. Even as a practicing general surgeon, I wore a pin that said “Starve a Surgeon, Wear Your Seat Belt.” It took a few years, but the use of seat belts has become second nature.

Now it’s time to starve surgeons again by adopting stronger gun safety laws. President Biden has already called for stiffer measures while lowering flags to half staff for five days.

I expect the lawmakers in Augusta and our congressional delegation to rise to the occasion.

Dr. Edward Walworth of Lewiston is vice president of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition.

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