meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The FRONTLINE Dispatch

'Breakdown' Episode 4: 'They controlled it all'

The FRONTLINE Dispatch

GBH

News

4.61.1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 December 2024

⏱️ 39 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The FRONTLINE Dispatch presents: Breakdown (from Maine Public Radio, The Portland Press Herald, and FRONTLINE).

When a gunman opened fire in a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, Maine, last October, he used an autoloading rifle to fire 54 rounds in less than two minutes. Eighteen were killed and 13 wounded.

Although nearly half of Maine households owns a firearm, the state is considered one of the safest in the country. Episode 4 examines the history and politics of guns and hunting in Maine, the state’s unique “yellow flag” gun laws and its powerful gun lobby, which shaped state officials’ response to the Lewiston shootings.

To hear the rest of the series, subscribe to Breakdown on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or stay tuned for more episodes on The FRONTLINE Dispatch

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The Frontline Dispatch is made possible by the Abrams Foundation, committed to excellence in journalism,

0:05.7

and by the Frontline Journalism Fund, with major support from John and Joanne Hagler.

0:10.7

David Trahan was in Northern Maine, out of cell range, and helping a friend gut a moose, when he heard what had happened in Lewiston.

0:17.7

Jerry says his name. He said, there's been a shooting. And I said, what do you mean? There's been a mass shooting in Maine.

0:22.6

Well, I said to him, I need to get home.

0:25.5

I knew my phone would be ringing.

0:27.0

I knew that I needed to get back.

0:33.6

Trahan leads the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, or Sam.

0:43.2

We often hear about the power and influence of the National Rifle Association in the debate over guns.

0:50.2

But in Maine, gun politics is uniquely local, and Sam has long influenced the state's approach to gun laws,

0:53.9

regardless of whether Democrats or Republicans are in control. Its power comes from the state's culture of hunting and fishing,

0:58.0

in a firm belief that Mainers know how to handle their firearms.

1:02.0

There's a culture there that supports gun rights, and politically it translates into how people vote.

1:09.0

Nearly half of Maine households own a firearm.

1:12.8

Yet the year before Lewiston, there were fewer than two dozen gun-related homicides.

1:17.9

But after Lewiston, that sense of security was withering.

1:22.0

The calls for gun law reform came swiftly, and Trahan knew changes were coming.

1:27.3

Just four years earlier, he had worked with Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, and Trahan knew changes were coming. Just four years earlier, he had worked

1:29.2

with Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, to craft a gun law that's unlike any other in the country.

1:36.2

Lawmakers fashioned the Yellow Flag Law in a way that would not upset Maine gun owners.

1:41.1

While it provided police a way to confiscate guns if a judge decided someone was dangerous,

1:46.4

the process was neither quick nor simple. It prioritized due process over speed. And lawmakers here

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from GBH, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of GBH and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.