Bills aiming to relax gun control receive public comment in Augusta
AUGUSTA, Maine (WABI) - Last year, the Maine Legislature enacted laws that required background checks for all private firearm sales and a mandatory 72-hour waiting period when purchasing a firearm.
On Wednesday, public comment was heard on three bills pushing back on these laws.
Representative Jennifer Poirier (R-Skowhegan) is sponsoring LD 1062, the bill calling to eliminate background checks on all private firearm sales.
“The current law requiring background checks for private sales will not prevent crime or tragedy,” Rep. Poirier says. “Repealing the current law restores freedom to the people of Maine while upholding the values of personal responsibility and constitutional rights.”
As the law currently stands, background checks are required for all advertised firearm sales. They are not required for non-advertised sales and transfers between family members.
While supporters of the measure say current law is unconstitutional, opponents argue background checks enhance safety.
“Criminals prefer unlicensed gun dealers by requiring background checks for private sales. The legislature closed an important loophole, making it harder for criminals to obtain guns,” comments David Moltz, an attendee in opposition of the bills.
The two other bills discussed Wednesday, LD 208 and LD 1230, both look to eliminate the 72-hour waiting period between buying a gun and obtaining it.
“It restores common sense to our laws, respects the constitutional rights of Mainers, and removes a policy that has been shown to offer no public safety benefit while imposing real burdens on lawful gun owners,” explains House Republican Leader and LD 208 sponsor Representative Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor).
LD 1230’s sponsor, Representative Quentin Chapman (R-Auburn), says the implementation of the waiting period “misses the mark and creates unintended burdens for Mainers.”
Supporters say waiting periods have negative effects on small gun shops, first-time firearms buyers and do not address public safety concerns.
Multiple gun shop owners say not only do waiting periods draw consumers towards online shopping and away from weekend gun shows, the vague language of the law resulted in varied protocols from gun shops across the state.
“No other individual liberty mandates a waiting period to exercise a right,” notes Kim Moulton during her presented testimony from the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.
Opponents argue that in the state with the highest suicide rate in New England, taking all precautions is invaluable.
Apart of the Maine Association of Psychiatric Physicians, Moltz stresses the importance of creating “cool down” periods for those contemplating suicide: “87% of gun deaths in Maine are suicide, 87%. And 58% of suicide deaths in Maine are by gun. Impulsiveness plays a part in many suicide attempts. 25% of people who survive suicide attempts said that the time between when they made the decision to suicide and when they attempted it was less than 5 minutes and 74% said less than 10 minutes.”
Currently, the three-day delay law is on hold following a ruling from the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, making the proposed bills’ future even more unclear.
Margaret Groban, a retired federal prosecutor and current adjunct faculty of University of Maine Law School, explains what this means during her neutral testimony: “Any action that the legislature takes could be undermined or rendered irrelevant, depending on what the first circuit rules, which will take some period of months.”
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