Robert Card : “Maine Shooting: Army Official Reveals NY Law Couldn’t Disarm Reservist”

The Army was unable to utilise New York’s red flag law to disarm a reservist undergoing a mental health crisis prior to a tragic mass shooting in Maine, as he was not a resident of New York, a nurse practitioner informed an independent commission.

Maj. Matthew Dickison testified that Robert Card exhibited signs of psychosis and paranoia in July 2023 when Dickison assessed Card at an Army hospital. Dickison concluded that Card was unfit for duty and should not have access to firearms. He was surprised when Card was discharged from a private psychiatric hospital two weeks later.

Several months later, Card carried out a mass shooting in Maine, resulting in the deaths of 18 individuals. Card later died by suicide, and his body was discovered two days later.

Dickison informed the commissioners that he had attempted to invoke New York’s SAFE Act to temporarily confiscate Card’s weapons. However, he abandoned the effort upon realising that the law only applied to New York residents. Card, a resident of Bowdoin, Maine, was in New York for training West Point cadets when his behaviour raised concerns among fellow reservists.

Meanwhile, a civilian Army medical contractor defied a subpoena to appear before the commission investigating the circumstances leading to the shooting in Maine. The witness, identified as Patricia Moloney, declined to testify citing a potential medical malpractice claim against her.

The commission reconvened after Moloney’s absence and heard testimony from Dickison, who was stationed in Korea at the time. Dickison, a nurse practitioner specialising in psychiatry, detailed his interactions with Card during his evaluation at Keller Army Hospital.

Dickison recommended post-hospitalisation measures to ensure Card’s well-being, including the confiscation of his personal weapons and adherence to medical appointments and medication. However, Card’s Army Reserve unit leader, Capt. Jeremy Reamer, testified that his authority was limited to drill periods.

The commission previously examined New York’s red flag law and Maine’s yellow flag laws, which allow for the seizure of firearms from individuals in psychiatric crises. In a March interim report, the commission asserted that law enforcement should have utilised Maine’s yellow flag law to seize Card’s weapons and place him in protective custody.

Law enforcement officials in Maine stated that Card’s family had agreed to remove his firearms, but the commission criticised this approach as an “abdication of law enforcement’s responsibility.”