Maine: Legislature to Vote on Multiple Pro- and Anti-Gun Bills

This week, the Maine Legislature will vote on numerous pro-gun and anti-gun measures.  Please act now! Contact your State Lawmakers and ask them to SUPPORT LD’s 666, 884, 1052 and 1033, and to OPPOSE LD’s 976 and 805!

Pro-Gun Legislation:

Legislative Document 666: allows a person who holds a junior hunting license, has completed a relevant hunter safety course, and is at least 14 years of age, to hunt without being accompanied by a junior hunter supervisor. 

Legislative Document 884: prohibits the Department of Public Safety from retaining any information or data concerning firearm purchases within the activities performed by the Department’s information analysis center.

Legislative Document 1033: allows Sunday hunting on private property with written permission from the landowner. Unfortunately, Maine hunters are prevented from introducing their family or friends to hunting because they are competing with organized sports and other activities on Saturday, which is often their only opportunity to hunt outside of the work week. Providing an extra day in the field, especially on the weekend, increases opportunities for those individuals to experience one of America’s oldest traditions, and increases hunter retention.

Legislative Document 1052: prohibits state and government officials from restricting the lawful carrying, sale, or use of firearms and ammunition during states of emergency, and also prevents them from closing gun stores and shooting ranges. The legislation also suspends the expiration date for concealed handgun permits during a state of emergency.

Anti-Gun Legislation:

Legislative Document 976: amends the definition of “machine gun” to include a weapon to which a bump stock is affixed, and penalizes possession of a machine gun as a Class D crime.

Legislative Document 805: takes the first step in eliminating Maine’s current firearm preemption law by allowing municipalities to impose an almost total prohibition on the possession of a firearm in a “voting place.” The bill effectively creates a gun-free zone not only in the actual “voting place,” but prohibits possession within a 250-foot zone of the entrance, with limited exceptions.

Again, please contact your State Senator and State Representative and ask them to SUPPORT LD’s 666, 884, 1033, and 1052 and to OPPOSE LD’s 976 and 805.