Maine: City of Portland Illegally Classifies Gun Shops as “Non-Essential”
Friday, April 17, 2020
Our Second Amendment rights are being threatened. The City of Portland needs to hear from you now!
In response to COVID-19, the Portland Mayor and City Council adopted Order No. 156-19/20 on April 14th, which replaced the list of essential businesses previously authorized by the city. The order stated that "Gun shops shall not be considered an essential business or service within the City of Portland."
Not only does this order directly conflict with the new list of essential businesses published on April 3rd by the Mills administration, but it blatantly conflicts with Maine’s preemption law. State preemption prevents local governments from enacting their gun control ordinances and creating a confusing patchwork of local laws. Law-abiding citizens should enjoy the same rights, regardless of where they reside. Maine statutes have no exception for local government acting in an emergency – which means the City of Portland is blatantly violating the state preemption law by classifying gun shops as non-essential businesses and ordering them to close under their new order.
Please act now and call on Portland Mayor Kate Snyder and the Portland City Council to correct this egregious error and make firearm dealers essential businesses!
It is unfortunate that in these uncertain times, an elected official would limit the ability of law-abiding citizens to exercise our inherent right to self-defense. Firearm dealers are essential to exercising this right!
This is breaking and developing news, and as more details become available, we will update NRA members further. Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org/coronavirus.
While decent Americans spent Veterans Day honoring the sacrifice of those who served the country and took an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” the gun control radicals at Giffords ...
On Wednesday, November 12th, the House Judiciary Committee passed HB 1891 on a 14 to 12 party-line vote. The bill now advances to the House floor where it will soon be eligible for a vote. ...
Thanksgiving in America isn’t just about food, family and football. According to a survey published by casino.ca (with its Great Thanksgiving Family Feud Map), the holiday typically “comes with a slice of family chaos and a touch of ...
In a tacit acknowledgement of just how unworkable its gun ban and confiscation program is, Canada’s Liberal government quietly extended the gun amnesty for an additional year, just before it was due to expire on October 30 ...
Here in America, we are blessed with the Second Amendment. Anti-gun extremists have long tried to eliminate it with the proverbial death by a thousand cuts, chipping away at it with countless laws designed to impose ...
Yesterday, the National Rifle Association joined the Firearms Policy Coalition and two NRA members in filing a legal challenge to New Jersey’s “one-gun-a-month” law.
On October 30th, 2025, Senator Jim Risch [R-ID] introduced the Firearm Access During Shutdown Act (S.3085), with Congressman Ben Cline [R-VA-6] introducing the companion legislation in the U.S. House (H.R. 5874).
Today, President Donald Trump signed into law a legislative proposal to reopen the federal government. Included in the legislation is a provision that prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from stripping the constitutional right ...
Last week the North Carolina General Assembly briefly returned from recess and re-referred Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to the House Rules Committee.
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.