Robert Card was denied at Maine gun shop due to mental health months before massacre

Mass shooter Robert Card was turned away from a Maine gun store when he tried to buy a silencer for his assault rifle months before he launched a massacre at a bowling alley and bar — a move that possibly saved countless lives.

Card, 40, went to Coastal Defense Firearms in Auburn on Aug. 5 to pick up the accessory he ordered online — but was turned down when staff learned about his mental history, ABC News reported.

“He came in and filled out the form. He checked off a box that incriminated himself saying he was in an institution,” shop owner Rick LaChapelle told the outlet.

“Our staff was fantastic. Let him finish filling out the form and said, ‘I’m sorry, Mr. Card, we cannot give you this.’”

LaChapelle said the employees explained to the gunman that the information he provided would prevent them from selling him the accessory for his weapon.

“At this point in time, we cannot release this silencer to you because of the answers that you’ve given us,’” the storeowner said they told him.

“We did what we were supposed to do and hopefully saved a lot of lives by the proper, just following the proper procedures.’”

Card, a US Army reservist and expert marksman, spent two weeks in the mental health facility in July after making bizarre threats while training at Camp Smith near the US military academy at West Point.

On Wednesday, he stormed into Just-In-Time Recreation, a Lewiston, Maine, bowling alley, and opened fire with an assault rifle — and minutes later gunned down patrons at nearby Schemengee Bar & Grille.

Authorities launched a massive manhunt for the deranged gunman, which ended on Friday when he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.

LaChapelle, who is also city council president in Lewiston, said the bloodbath could have been much worse if Card had been able to buy the silencer because survivors would not have been alerted by the sound of the gunfire and failed to seek cover.

“He could have spent more time in each location,” he said. “And it could have been more methodical, and my heart goes out to the people, the victims. This is just absolutely horrible. Horrible.”

LaChappelle said Card had already purchased the silencer online, and it was delivered to his store for pickup — but was required to fill out a federal form that included a question about his mental health history.

“Have you ever been adjudicated as a mental defective or have you ever been committed to a mental institution,” one query on the form says. Card marked it with an “X” next to “yes,” ABC said.

A clerk at the store said Card was police and “very cooperative” when given the news, and simply left.

A spokesperson for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives declined to comment.