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.
Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.1 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act, completely removing suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA).
Excellent news for gun owners came last week when the U.S. House of Representatives passed President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, which includes the complete removal of suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA).
When the Biden-Harris administration made clear they intended to use a “whole-of-government” approach to suppress Second Amendment rights, few could have predicted their efforts would extend all the way to the dentist’s office.
Everything is relative, so the saying goes, which means that once in a while, it’s instructive to read about the gun laws and the state of gun rights in other countries.
On May 21, two dozen state attorneys general sent a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives, urging that body to pass H.R. 38, the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.
We have been reporting on recent reforms by ATF to make its operations more transparent, professional, and public safety focused and less openly hostile to law abiding gun owners and the industries that serve them.
Among all the infringements of the Second Amendment perpetrated by the Biden-Harris regime, one of the most punitive and consequential was ATF’s “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs).
As Texas House Bill 3053 heads to Governor Abbott’s desk, it is serving as a broader reminder to all states of the gun “buybacks” scam, only this time with a legislative solution to this anti-gun mainstay.
Yesterday, the National Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, and FPC Action Foundation filed an amicus brief arguing that the federal prohibition on machinegun possession is unconstitutional as applied to the defendant in the Fifth Circuit case, United States ...
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.