Biden calls for ‘responsible’ gun control laws while visiting the site of Maine mass shooting: ‘It’s all about common sense’

President Biden called for “reasonable, responsible” gun control during a Friday visit to Lewiston, Maine, after the murder of 18 people last week by a mentally ill gunman.

“I know consensus is ultimately possible,” Biden said in a four-minute speech before meeting with families of victims.

“It’s about common sense, reasonable, responsible measures to protect our children, our families, our communities — because regardless of our politics, this is about protecting our freedom to go to a bowling alley, a restaurant, a school, a church without being shot and killed,” he said.

Biden steered clear of offering a specific proposal, but previously called for a federal ban on semiautomatic weapons, which have been used in many mass shootings.

That proposal is opposed by congressional Republicans and therefore unlikely to pass.

The massacre in Lewiston — known nationally as the home of Bates College — sparked debate about the enforcement of gun control laws already in effect because of the perpetrator’s recent history of mental illness and violent threats.

Army reservist Robert Card, 40, committed the killings with a semiautomatic rifle he legally purchased in July — just 10 days before he informed Army personnel he was “hearing voices” and having fantasies about “hurting other soldiers,” resulting in a two-week stay at a psychiatric hospital.

Card murdered patrons at a Lewiston bowling alley and restaurant before dying by suicide.

Maine adopted a “yellow flag” law in 2019 that allows authorities to confiscate the weapons of people experiencing mental illness. The law is different from better-known “red flag” laws because it’s intended to afford greater rights to the gun owner.

The law outlines a process through which police can — after placing a person “protective custody” — take away their guns if they are determined by a “medical practitioner” to be “mentally ill” or a threat to themselves or others.

If the person “presents a likelihood of foreseeable harm,” police “shall” request a court order to take the guns, the law says, prompting a hearing within 14 days. Judges can issue confiscation orders for one-year periods.

Card’s sister-in-law Katie Card told NBC News how before the mass shootings the family had alerted police and his Army Reserve base to their concerns about him hearing voices as they “got increasingly concerned.”

A police report stated that an officer had talked with Card’s brother about taking his weapons away from him but it’s unclear whether that actually happened.

Biden last year signed a bipartisan federal gun law — passed after 18-year-old Salvador Ramos murdered 21 at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas — that enhanced federal background checks for gun buyers under 21 and offered financial incentives for states to adopt “red flag” laws.