Something That's Completely Unusual, Until It Isn't

Another one, close to home. A white, sick, right-wing gun freak in Lewiston, Maine armed with an assault rifle and dark imagined grievances mows down a bunch of innocent people indulging in their mundane pastimes - a kids' night at a bowling alley, a corn-hole tournament at a bar. Shaken residents insist, "This doesn't happen here" in our bucolic Vacationland - which is, in fact, awash in guns, with no background checks, wait periods, conceal carry permits or red-flag laws in sight. What are the odds.

Wednesday night's slaughter - so far, 18 dead, 13 wounded - was the country's 36th mass killing this year, and its deadliest so far; it's also the second-highest number on record in a year. In a barbaric America, our mass murders by gun turn out to be only a subset of mass shootings - defined as at least four victims wounded or killed - which stand at an ungodly 565 to date. Until now, Maine has had one of the nation's highest gun ownership rates, one of the lowest gun crime rates and some of the least restrictive gun laws. There's no background check required in private gun sales, no permit needed to carry a gun in public, no ban on high-capacity assault weapons, no red-flag law, though we do now have a yellow-flag law, which allows law enforcement to remove guns from people having documented mental health issues. This year, Maine Republicans helped defeat a proposed 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases; earlier gun control efforts - background checks, tighter school security, banning bump stocks - all failed.

Thus could Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin, allegedly kill 18 people at Schemengees Bar and Grille, which was holding a corn-hole tournament, and at Just-In-Time Recreation, a bowling alley where several dozen kids had gathered for a youth bowling league. Surveillance images at Just-In-Time show a bearded Card "kitted out to kill people," cradling an AR-15 assault rifle with a second magazine attached to it. Card was trained as an Army Reserves firearms instructor in Saco; in July, with his unit at West Point, he was held at a psychiatric hospital after he threatened to shoot up the Saco base and claimed he was hearing voices. At the same time, he told relatives he could hear people "bashing him." After the shootings, a neighbor who grew up nearby said Card's family were "gun fanatics" he avoided; Heavy reported Card's social media history showed he followed the right-wing likes of Tucker, Elon, Rogan, MAGA "Proud Patriots," and Don Jr. ranting we should worry not about guns but "lunatic...gender-affirming bullshit."

With Card still on the loose Thursday, officials in Lewiston-Auburn and as far away as Portland closed schools, cancelled sports events and told residents to "shelter in place," if they were fortunate enough to have one. A chorus of grievous voices rightly, furiously, for the 784th time, demanded gun reform to halt our insane shedding of innocent blood by weapons of war that, asserted the veterans' group Common Defense, "do not belong on our streets. Period.".Biden urged Congress ban assault weapons to "fulfill their duty to protect the American people.” Stephen King ripped "madness in the name of freedom. It's the rapid-fire killing machines, people. Stop electing apologists for murder." Rep. Jared Golden, whose district includes Lewiston and who previously voted against banning assault rifles, vowed to work for a ban, apologized for his earlier "misjudgments," and said, "The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure." Susan Collins didn't; she and her sordid legacy can go straight to hell.

The Maine Gun Safety Coalition told lawmakers to "stop bowing to the gun lobby and look squarely at the face of what has happened." Pediatricians declared gun violence a "plague" and "scourge," demanded "proven prevention policies," and warned, "Our children are watching. Wondering. Learning about what we value...Dirigo." Educators suggested ways to talk to kids about living in a bullet-riddled hell-hole of a country: "You are safe. There are people here who can help you," also lock doors, remember those cool drills, relay any safety concerns, ask your parents about moving to Denmark (we made that one up). New House Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson was "prayerful (this) violence can stop"; Maine Rep. Chellie Pingree said she appreciates his prayers but, "We need more than thoughts and prayers" and "it's always time" to work for gun reform. Mike also said, “At the end of the day, the problem is the human heart...It’s not guns, it’s not the weapons.” To which Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) retorted, "It’s actually the fucking weapons.”

Many echoed the shock of Auburn schools superintendent: "Never in my lifetime did I believe this could ever happen in Maine. However, sadly, here we are." The mother of a Bates student, also a Chapel Hill student twice locked down: “I could not believe it - this is happening again." Auburn's mayor: "This is something that’s completely unusual...These are just people going out to (have) pizza and go bowling. It's just normal America." Which is the point. Police have issued Card an arrest warrant on eight counts of murder - the other bodies (severely mutilated: see assault rifle) haven't been identified - and the manhunt is ongoing. Shaken residents do what they can to feel safe. Coming home from Girl Scouts that night with her daughter, Nichoel Arel drove past the bowling alley as police patted people down outside. Her daughter, scared, started crying. At home, she locked the house and got out her gun; she said it made her daughter "feel better to know that I was carrying it around." Lewiston City Councilor Robert McCarthy, who lives near the crime scenes, aligned with her. "We locked all the doors," he said. "We grabbed the guns."