Maine Voices: A sensible gun permit law exists for hunting in Maine. It’s time we expand that.

Thank God that November’s lively shooter scare in eleven Maine faculties was a hoax.

Maine, nonetheless, is only one of a handful of states that has not had a mass homicide tragedy just like the shootings at Uvalde, Sandy Hook, UVA, Virginia Tech, Parkland or Columbine. A standard theme in these shootings is that the shooters use semi-automatic firearms with giant magazines, typically purchased with no permit-to-purchase requirement. The Uvalde shooter purchased two AR-15 platform rifles and 375 rounds of ammunition off the shelf simply days earlier than the killing. 

At present in Maine any grownup, irrespective of how unstable (absent a courtroom discovering of harmful instability upon a health care provider’s testimony), should purchase and carry a semi-automatic firearm able to firing dozens of rounds with out reloading, with no background verify, no allow, no ready interval. It’s because, in Maine, no allow is required to purchase or carry any gun – even AR-15 model weapons with magazines of 15, 30, even 45 rounds.

What can we in Maine do to assist shield our kids from a shooter with a semi-automatic firearm able to mowing them down in seconds?

We will assist the passage of a regulation to require a allow to purchase or carry any semi-automatic firearm that’s already prohibited for looking in Maine.

Maine regulation prohibits hunters from utilizing “any autoloading firearm having {a magazine} capability of greater than 5 cartridges” (excepting small caliber and short-barrel firearms). Such a semi-automatic firearms allowing regulation may use Maine’s identical allow utility requirements which can be in Maine’s current voluntary gun allow statute. So this may be a “homegrown” regulation becoming with Maine’s tradition and legal guidelines.

Such a regulation would meet the constitutional necessities of the U.S. Supreme Court docket’s current choice in New York State Rifle & Pistol Affiliation. vs. Bruen.

Justice Clarence Thomas’s choice in Bruen says the Second Modification proper to bear arms extends to “law-abiding, accountable residents.” His choice thus distinguishes between New York’s unconstitutional “could concern for correct trigger” allow statute and the constitutional “shall concern” allow statutes of different states.

A Maine “shall concern” semi-automatic firearm allow regulation would meet Bruen’s requirements – and can be much less restrictive than the “shall concern” allow statutes of different states, as it might apply solely to semi-automatic firearms which can be already not authorized for looking in Maine, and wouldn’t apply to every other weapons. It additionally wouldn’t require permits for present house owners of semi-automatic firearms to proceed to own them of their properties.

Can all of us assist the passage of such a regulation? We gun house owners, hunters, Republicans, Democrats, mother and father and grandparents? If such a regulation had been handed we might for sure scale back the danger of a mass capturing by a semi-automatic firearm in Maine.

This 12 months, and significantly since Uvalde, there have been many letters to the Portland Press Herald pleading for Maine to do one thing to enhance gun security.

A semi-automatic firearms allowing regulation wouldn’t solely keep away from the authorized obstacles offered by Bruen to different gun security measures, however can be restricted to semi-automatic firearms which can be already prohibited in Maine for looking, so it ought to have an opportunity at passage as an inexpensive, and constitutional, measure.

Please contact your legislator in assist of such a regulation and please enroll with the Present Up Community of Maine’s Gun Security Coalition, in assist of the gun security payments already pending within the Maine Legislature. Let’s do what we are able to, for our children and grandkids.

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