Late Thursday night, progressive politician Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland) blocked repeated procedural motions from Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) that requested the legislature to follow Maine law and hold a public hearing on Michael Bloomberg's radical Red Flag referendum. These repeated motions were ruled "out of order" by Daughtry, a staunch gun-control ally, based on her interpretation of the Maine Constitution and citing that the laws requiring these hearings do not apply to her and her caucus. The Senate upheld these rulings on a party-line vote.
NRA members and Second Amendment advocates are urged to contact these lawmakers NOW and voice their concerns that their leadership continues to violate Maine law and block the voices of Maine citizens from being heard. Click the TAKE ACTION button below to contact these lawmakers now and request they reconsider their position.
Despite bipartisan opposition to the illegal tactics to block Maine citizens from having their voice heard in the statutorily mandated process, progressive Portland politicians have dug in, protecting the interests of gun-grabbing special interests instead of upholding Maine's law. Last night's brazen disregard for the laws highlighted once again that gun-control politicians know that a public hearing would be detrimental to their efforts and will stop at nothing to protect their political pet project.
These rulings, which violate a law that many Senate members voted for in 2019, set a dangerous precedent for the institution and erode the trust of citizens in the Maine legislative process. As Senator Rick Bennett (R-Oxford) said on the floor:
"A ruling like that, which is within the prerogative of the chair to make, is deeply disturbing because it kicks in the teeth that notion of fundamental openness and transparency on which this Senate and this Legislature relies."
Please stay tuned to the NRA-ILA website and your inbox for updates as this session continues.