Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday evening that he is not sure if Florida’s red flag law is effective in removing guns from dangerous people and he wouldn’t sign one – or any gun safety measure – if elected president.
Instead, in response to Wednesday’s mass shooting at a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston, Maine, that has left at least 18 dead, the Republican presidential candidate said he would institutionalize more people with mental health issues against their will.
“I think what’s ultimately effective is holding people accountable, either through mental adjudication if they’re crazy or convicting them when they’re committing crimes,” DeSantis told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.”
An intensive manhunt is still underway for the suspect in the shooting, who police said recently reported mental health issues and was reported to have been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks over the summer.
In Florida, law enforcement agencies can advocate for judges to temporarily bar dangerous individuals from possessing or purchasing a firearm through a provision known as a “red flag” law. From its inception following the Parkland high school massacre in 2018 through mid-2022, it was invoked more than 8,000 times to restrict gun ownership of people authorities deemed a risk to themselves or others. The law is supported by many Florida sheriffs.
DeSantis said he didn’t think Florida’s law – which allows judges to ban or remove firearms from someone experiencing a mental health crisis – would have made a difference if it was in place in Maine.
“In this case, I’m not sure,” he said. “I think an involuntary commitment, though, would have kept him off the street, and I think that would have done the trick.”
Though DeSantis opposed the law when he ran for governor in 2018, it has…
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