On October 25, 2023, a gunman entered the Sparetime Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, and opened fire.
18 were killed, a dozen more are injured, and the shooter is still on the loose at the time of this writing. Reports say that at the time of the shooting, a children's bowling league was at the alley --
we have no idea yet how many of the victims were just kids. Maine has some incredibly lax policies when it comes to guns --
no one is required a permit to carry, and recent proposals for background checks and 72-hour waiting periods for gun purchases were flat out rejected earlier this year. And Maine isn't even the most lenient state in the US when it comes to gun control.
That's why we need our federal government to step up and protect every state's residents. According to the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, if the federal government passes stronger laws than states do, the federal law wins.
That's why we're demanding that Congress pass comprehensive gun control laws, including mandatory universal background checks and waiting periods for all firearm sales!Apparently, the shooter "had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks" this summer after having reported "hearing voices and threats to shoot up" the military base where he was a firearms instructor.
It is a complete and utter failure of our system that this man was able to obtain or retain guns, walk into a public facility filled with families, and kill or brutally wound dozens of people.The accounts of the incident are
heartbreaking.
A 10-year-old girl described being grazed by a flying bullet. Another bowler ran up a bowling lane and climbed into the pin area's machinery to escape the horror.
How, in 2023, are our lawmakers still allowing us to go through this terror and tragedy?This was the 36th mass shooting in the US this year. We must raise our voices together to tell lawmakers:
it must be the last. Sign the petition to Congress urging them to pass strong gun policies that keep firearms out of the hands of people like this gunman!
Photo courtesy of Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office's Facebook
