Though much is still murky about them, the tragic mass shootings in Maine raise a trenchant question.

How on earth did alleged killer Robert Card spend time in a mental hospital and then months later get access to deadly weapons?

The Army reservist recently reported hearing voices; he also threatened to shoot up a military training base in Saco, Maine. 

And he was reportedly sent to a mental hospital over the summer, presumably over the issues driving his delusions and threats. 

But he was let out after two weeks. Why?

Even to the most untrained eye, Card is the literal textbook example of a person who shouldn’t be allowed to have access to firearms. 

His case as reported is also proof positive that states need strong involuntary-commitment laws uncluttered by red tape, and red flag laws around guns to boot.

People can be involuntarily committed in Maine, yes (though it has no red-flag law and doesn’t require background checks for all gun purchases).

But the state has let other accused mentally ill killers slip. 

Like Justin Butterfield, who was refused long-term involuntary commitment after multiple mental illness episodes, hospital visits and run-ins with the police in a single year, and went on to allegedly murder his brother late last year. 

Someone says they hear voices and makes a mass shooting threat, with an institutionalization? 

How much clearer can it be? The state must intervene by making sure the sick person’s getting the treatment they need and keeping them totally isolated from any and all guns.  

Imagine if cops, prosecutors and mental-health workers had acted swiftly to put Card back in a mental hospital and not let him leave. 

His 18 — so far — victims might well still be alive. 

Keep in mind that Maine saw only 29 homicides total last year, adding to the stark horror of the crime and the institutional failure that enabled it. 

Card’s case, like that of so many other mass shooters, indicts national and state mental health authorities. 

As Maine and the nation mourn, they need to come to grips with the fact that avoiding the hard issues, like making sure involuntary commitment happens whenever necessary and making sure the mentally ill or unstable can’t access guns, only guarantees more tragedies.