Maine: Anti-Gun Bills Receive Bipartisan Opposition in Committee

On Wednesday, May 7th, the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary voted on several gun-related bills. After a lengthy discussion, all anti-gun bills received bipartisan opposition. NRA members and Second Amendment supporters are urged to contact their local lawmakers NOW and encourage them to oppose all gun control measures and support all pro-gun bills. To contact your local lawmakers, click the TAKE ACTION button below.

Anti-Gun Bills

LD 677 introduced by leading gun-grabbing politician Sen. Anne Carney, creates a backdoor ban on commonly owned firearm parts by redefining a “machine gun” to include any semi-automatic firearm that includes parts that can “increase the rate of fire.” This poorly written bill attempts to sneak a so-called “rapid-fire modification ban” past Mainers in a bill completely unrelated to firearm parts. This legislation is so broad it could implicate a variety of firearm parts and aftermarket triggers. Additionally, commonly performed trigger modifications used in a wide array of legal activities, including shooting sports, hunting, and self-defense, could make an otherwise law-abiding individual susceptible to legal liability. This bill narrowly received a majority "Ought to Pass" report, with a bipartisan coalition of pro-gun lawmakers voting "Ought Not to Pass." This bill now heads to the Senate floor for a vote. 

LD 1126, progressive politicians' so-called "ghost gun bill," redefines firearms under Maine law to include both finished and unfinished receivers. This definition change also explicitly requires that all finished and unfinished frames, receivers, and homemade firearms must be serialized at an FFL. This would hinder law-abiding Mainers' ability to build and repair firearms in their homes and require them to obtain expensive serialization on firearms and firearm parts. This "ghost gun" scheme does not address criminal activity in Maine. Instead, it serves a national agenda to ban homemade firearms, which have been part of our nation's history since its inception. After yet another lengthy work session, this bill was "tabled" AGAIN, further highlighting the lack of support for this extreme anti-gun legislation. 

LD 1120 and LD 1299 seek to implement "safe storage” laws to create a top-down government mandate telling you how to store your firearms. While the NRA supports storing firearms responsibly, we do not support top-down one-size-fits-all government mandates. As NRA’s safety materials explain, “Many factors must be considered when deciding where and how to store guns. A person's particular situation will be a major part of the consideration." These bills narrowly received a majority "Ought to Pass" report, with a bipartisan coalition of pro-gun lawmakers voting "Ought Not to Pass." These bills now head to the House of Representatives and Senate floors for votes. 

Pro-Gun Bills

LD 1009 seeks to create a legal process to restore the Second Amendment rights of non-violent offenders. This bill, sponsored by Rep. Chad Perkins (R- Dover-Foxcroft), establishes a process for non-violent felons to petition the State of Maine to restore their rights. This petition process allows the Maine Department of Public Safety to review these requests on a case-by-case basis and issue a judgment regarding whether or not the individual should have their rights restored. This bill has been tabled to provide the lead sponsor an opportunity to offer an amendment to the bill. 

LD 953 seeks to amend Maine's definition of a "machine gun" to match the federal definition. Currently, Maine statutes use the term "projectiles" instead of "shots," creating concerns over how firearms that can shoot certain loads, including birdshot, could be misclassified as machine guns. This bill received a bipartisan majority "Ought to Pass" report. This bill now heads to the Senate floor for a vote.   

LD 1062 seeks to repeal Maine's expanded background check requirement that includes the transfers of private advertised sales. This law seeks to serve as another stepping stone to the full-blown Universal Background Check scheme that Mainers voted down at the ballot box in 2016. This bill received a majority "Ought Not to Pass" report. This bill now heads to the House of Representatives for a vote.

Please stay tuned to the NRA-ILA website and your inbox for updates as this legislation progresses.