Yes on Question 2 Campaign Releases First Ad

Today the Yes on Question 2 campaign released a new ad featuring a testimonial from Arthur Barnard, father of Lewiston victim Artie Strout and one of the citizen sponsors of the Safe Schools, Safe Communities initiative, which would create an Extreme Risk Protection Order law in Maine.

In the video, Barnard recounts his final evening with his son spent playing pool together, something they’d done together since Artie was a kid. Barnard left to go home, while Artie stayed behind to play a few more games. Just minutes later, a gunman walked in and Artie became one of the 18 victims of the Lewiston shooting, one of the deadliest mass shootings in America.

“People who are having a mental health crisis need help, not easy access to guns,” Barnard says in the ad. “Maine’s laws were too weak to save my son’s life. Vote ‘Yes on 2’ to change that.”

In the case of Lewiston, family members of Robert Card knew he was a threat and repeatedly asked police for help, but Maine’s current law gave the family no way to take action themselves. An independent state investigation later reported that Maine’s laws were too burdensome and weak to prevent this tragedy or tragedies like it. If this measure had been in place, perhaps one of the many warnings could have prevented the shooting.

An Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law would close this dangerous gap in Maine’s current law by empowering family members to go directly to a court when a loved one is in crisis. Through due process, a court can temporarily restrict someone’s access to firearms if the court finds them to be a danger to themselves or others. Under ERPOs, both family members and law enforcement can initiate the process.

“If Extreme Risk Protection Orders could prevent just one more family from ever having to experience what I’ve gone through – what my grandchildren are going through every day – it’s worth it,” Barnard said.