Maine’s House of Representatives disposed of two gun bills on April 15 and is set to vote on two more on Tuesday.
During Monday’s session, state representatives shot down a bill that would have allowed persons harmed by the improper use of a gun to sue the manufacturer. Representatives gave the thumbs up to a bill pushed by Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat.
LD 2224, “An Act to Strengthen Public Safety by Improving Maine’s Firearm Laws and Mental Health System,” passed on a largely party-line vote of 73-66.
It could be on the governor’s desk before the session ends on Wednesday.
Assistant House Majority Leader Kristen Cloutier (D-Lewiston) hailed the bill for its funding of mental health services, and the expansion of background check requirements for private gun sales. The legislation implements some aspects of Extreme Risk Protection Order or “Red Flag” laws and would require the state to collect data on violent crimes so it can be used to write legislation in the future.
“This proves that we’ll address the epidemic of gun violence as the public health crisis that it is,” Ms. Cloutier said.
The law requires private sales that result from advertisements—whether online, in print, including ads for gun shows—to include a background check by a Federal Firearms License holder through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
The bill states that transfers between relatives or collectors transferring antique or “curio” firearms would not require a background check.
The legislation also allows law enforcement to petition a judge for a warrant to take a person into protective custody if the judge deems the person mentally ill based on an affidavit from the officer. Law enforcement would also be authorized to seize any “dangerous weapons” the person may have.
Supporters of the law referenced the Oct. 25, 2023, mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, which left 18 people dead and 13 others injured at Schemengees Bar and Grille and the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley.
However, a Second Amendment advocate said activists are using the tragedy to push their national gun control agenda in Maine.
“Despite the Maine Independent Commission’s unanimous finding that current laws should have prevented the Lewiston tragedy, Michael Bloomberg and his allies continue to push an extreme gun control agenda in Augusta,” NRA Maine State director Justin Davis wrote in a statement to The Epoch Times.
An interim report from The Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston found that the current law should have been sufficient to stop that killer before he went on his rampage.
The report, released on March 15, 2024, states that the U.S. Army, mental health professionals in New York state, and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office would likely have prevented the crime if they had followed existing law.
Maine’s current “Yellow Flag” law allows police to take a person into protective custody for a mental health evaluation. If the person is deemed mentally ill by a medical professional, as defined by law, the court can confiscate any weapons the person has until their case is disposed of.
That bill will now go back to the Senate and then to Ms. Mills’ office, where she is expected to sign it.
That measure, LD 1696, failed by a vote of 71 to 69. It passed the House on April 11, then died in the Senate over concerns it could cost the state 120 jobs at the Smith & Wesson manufacturing plant in Houlton, Maine.
Rep. Gregory Lewis Swallow (R-Houlton) told his fellow representatives that the manufacturer left its home state of Massachusetts over objectionable legislation. He said company officials told him that making it easy to sue the company for the criminal use of its product could cost the state 120 jobs.
“It’s not a veiled threat,” he said.
The bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Rebecca Millett (D-Cape Elizabeth), reminded her colleagues that the bill had been amended. She pointed out that the title of the legislation no longer referenced “abnormally dangerous” weapons. The bill specified that manufacturers and sellers could only be held accountable if it was shown they had used deceptive trade practices or violated the law in their marketing of firearms.
“This bill, as amended, doesn’t impact (Smith & Wesson),” Ms. Millett said. “This bill simply focuses on the bad actors.”
Her appeal fell on deaf ears, and the House voted to concur with the Senate’s vote that the bill “ought not to pass,” and killed it.
Smith & Wesson has been operating in Houlton since 1966. It currently produces restraints such as handcuffs, leg irons, and metal pistol slides.
In September 2021, the venerable gun maker announced it was moving its headquarters from Boston, Massachusetts, where it had incorporated in 1852, to Marysville, Tennessee. In an online statement, the company listed seven reasons it chose Tennessee, including support for the Second Amendment, a business-friendly environment, and quality of life for its employees.
In his email to The Epoch Times, Mr. Davis vowed to work with Second Amendment supporters in the legislature to protect Mainers’ Second Amendment rights.
“Pragmatic lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are fighting back and attempting to protect the Pine Tree State from this national anti-gun agenda. Instead of passing failed cookie-cutter policies like 72-hour waiting periods and Red Flag laws, these politicians would be better served focusing on enforcing Maine’s current laws,” he stated in the email.
