A measure to require “universal” background checks even on most private gun transfers in Maine was finally defeated in the state Senate on Tuesday.
Lawmakers in the House approved by one vote the bill supported by the anti-gun lobby, but the proposal from Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross (D) went down in flames before it could reach the governor’s desk. She touted her bill as excluding sales among family members and transactions involving antique weapons.
The proposal intended to broaden background checks to cover private firearms sales, transfers, and gun show transactions. Sellers in violation of the statute would face a fine of up to $1,000.
Private sellers would have had to get a background check from an authorized firearms dealer. Second Amendment proponents argued this provision would result in burdensome requirements for the merchants.
Some also argued the measure contained a glaring loophole. Gun owners could loan a weapon indefinitely to a neighbor or acquaintance without being required to obtain a background check.
Anti-gun activists such as Nacole Palmer, founder and director of Show Up Network for Gun Safety, slammed the Senate defeat.
In a prepared statement, she criticized “the continued failure of the Maine Legislature and Gov. [Janet] Mills to pass a background check bill, despite overwhelming support from Maine voters for this commonsense measure.” She called the vote “extremely disheartening.”
Palmer asked, “how many more Mainers and other Americans need to die before our legislators wake up to the crisis and their own responsibility to help solve it?”
The gun control debate raged in the state after April’s mass shooting in which a man in Bowdoin allegedly killed his parents and their two friends. He went on to wound a father and his two adult children elsewhere.
Gov. Mills (D) is engaged in conversations with the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine concerning a compromise package of gun control bills. There is no word on the status of these talks and Maine’s current legislative session is coming to a close.
On Monday, Mills signed into law a “straw” purchase ban that follows a similar federal statute blocking the sale or transfer of weapons to those who are prohibited from having them.
Mills had been mostly silent on the background check measure before it was defeated in the Senate. The Bangor Daily News reported that she is working on her own proposals, none of which include toughening Maine’s background check regulations for weapons.
One of the reported proposals is rumored to be more funding for the state’s “yellow flag” law. This permits police and prosecutors to request a court order blocking the ability of those who threaten to harm others or themselves to possess firearms.
There is also a push for legislation to require searches of homes where violent felons reside after they are released from custody.
Maine is a problematic outlier for anti-gun zealots. It possesses one of the lowest crime rates in the nation but has one of the highest rates of gun ownership. According to the Pew Research Center, 46.8% of Maine households own at least one firearm.
This falls in line with the rich sporting tradition of hunting and gun ownership enjoyed by state residents.
After the proposal squeaked through the House, thankfully the Senate had the foresight to strike it down for at least another year. The state’s time and resources would be better spent going after the criminals it does have without targeting law-abiding citizens with cumbersome laws that do nothing to make anyone safer.
Here’s hoping this truly “commonsense” approach spreads to other states in the country and puts the focus back where it belongs — on laws that truly enhance safety.
