Maine Constitutional Carry passes Senate, House, with minor amendments

Gun Watch ^ | 2 June, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

 LD 652 (SP 245), "An Act To Authorize the Carrying of Concealed Handguns without a Permit"  passed  the Senate, 23-12, last Friday.

Today, 1 June, the Maine House  passed a lightly amended Constitutional Carry bill, 83-62.  The House added two amendments to the bill.   From pressherald.com:

More votes are required in the Senate before the bill moves forward, for procedural reasons and because the House adopted two amendments to the bill. One would require anyone under age 21 to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The other would require a person carrying a concealed gun to tell a police officer if they’re in possession of a weapon during a traffic stop.

Governor Le Page has already said that he will sign the bill.   The only question is whether the minor differences in the bill will be used to kill it or to significantly change it in conference committee.   If I were Senator Brakey,  I would urge the Senate to accept the House amendments and pass the bill to Governor Le Page.   Many have said that the House, with a Democrat majority, would never pass a constitutional carry bill. 

The head of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, David Trahan, said that out of state money was  a factor that helped the bill pass ... in a negative way.  From pressherald.com:

“Maine people don’t like it when money and power coming from out of state tries to influence their decision-making,” said Trahan, who served in the Legislature for 12 years. “That was a factor.”

Could it be that the Bloomberg money and Everytown advertising helped push constitutional carry to passage?

Maine would become the 7th state to restore constitutional carry.  Vermont has always had constitutional carry.   Five other states have restored the right to bear arms, both openly and concealed, without special government permission.  They are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, and Wyoming.  No additional problems have been detected in states that have embraced constitutional carry.

Update: Governor Le Page says that the requirement for anyone under the age of 21 to get a permit is an insult to those under the are of 21 who have or are serving in the armed forces, and he will not sign the bill with that amendment. 

The Senate amended the bill to exempt service members under the are of 21, and sent it back to the House. 

Developments will be reported as they occur.

 ©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

Governor Le Page is a strong second amendment supporter.

[exnavy]

Closer to what the founders intended.

[NFHale]

Is there still a background check involved?

[Steven Scharf]

Bangor Daily News

House approves ‘constitutional carry’ bill with fix designed to satisfy LePage
By Mario Moretto, BDN Staff
Posted June 04, 2015

AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill to allow Mainers to carry concealed handguns without a permit appears destined for Gov. Paul LePage’s desk after the House agreed Thursday to an amendment designed to win the governor’s support.

The latest version of the bill, approved by bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate, would allow anyone older than 21, who isn’t prohibited from owning a firearm, to carry a hidden handgun. Members of the military would be afforded the same right as long as they are older than 18 years old.

The provision for servicemen and servicewomen was added by the Senate on Wednesday in an effort to appease LePage, who said he would not sign a bill that didn’t apply to all adults in the military. In a vote of 87-60 on Thursday, the House concurred with the Senate.

. . .

Additional procedural votes remain in the Senate, but with support secured in both chambers, the bill is all but sure to end up on LePage’s desk.

If the governor signs the bill or allows it to pass into law without his signature, as expected, Maine would become the second state in New England to allow permitless carry. Vermont has never required a permit to carry a concealed gun.

http://bangordailynews.com/2015/06/04/politics/house-approves-constitutional-carry-bill-with-fix-designed-to-satisfy-lepage/

The Gun Watch article is already out of date.

FYI, the Maine Senate has a Republican majority and the initial votes on this have been 21 to 14. This is well on its way to becoming law in Maine.

[Chickensoup]

Take the Win as is, LePage. We can adjust later. We need this win now.

[marktwain]

Developments are occurring rapidly.

[marktwain]

“Is there still a background check involved?”

The bill does not change anything about purchasing firearms. That process does not change.

[Macoozie]

FTA - "An Act To Authorize . . ."
I should not need the state to "Authorize" my constitutionally protected rights.
Perhaps the text should simply read that the state recognizes and fully supports those constitutional prerogatives and will no longer infringe on them.