Posted on 03/28/2015 12:35:54 AM PDT by nickcarraway
In the coming days, as many Mainers scramble to finalize their tax returns, the Legislature will begin debating what has already become one of the most bipartisan bills of the session. Sponsored by freshman Republican Sen. Eric Brakey of Auburn, this legislation seeks to bring constitutional carry (already the law in Vermont) to Maine. Currently, if one wishes to carry a concealed firearm in Maine, one needs to apply for a permit to do so, through either the Maine State Police or your local police department. This bill would repeal that requirement, allowing anyone who can legally purchase a firearm to carry it concealed if they so choose.
At first glance, it might seem that this bill would be a thoroughly partisan exercise. However, Maine has a bipartisan tradition of full-throated support for the Second Amendment. Brakey has assembled an impressive list of cosponsors, including Democrats like House Majority Leader Jeff McCabe of Skowhegan and longtime former Speaker of the House John Martin of Eagle Lake — who, to his credit, has always been a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.
This marks a sharp turnaround from last session, when Democrats (including then-Senate President Justin Alfond) sponsored a raft of gun control measures. At the time, it seemed as though a major effort to limit gun rights might have legs in Maine and that the issue would become more partisan here, as it has elsewhere in the country.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case; instead, we will be debating an expansion of gun rights. The Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will hold a hearing on constitutional carry on Wednesday, April 8. All of this bipartisan support doesn’t mean the legislation will have smooth sailing, of course. Even after last year’s elections, there are still too many gun control proponents in the Legislature, and they will fight this tooth and nail at every step of the way.
They’ll claim that more criminals will have guns, somehow. This argument makes little sense on its face, of course: criminals tend not to bother with applying for government permission to commit a felony. That won’t stop them, however. Nor will the fact that even though Vermont has constitutional carry, it has a similarly low crime rate as Maine.
They’ll try and make the argument that more people will be carrying guns around in more places, even though guns will remain barred in all the same places they are right now. Private businesses will still be free to bar firearms with or without constitutional carry.
They’ll say that constitutional carry will somehow make it easier for criminals to get guns, when the bill doesn’t affect the purchase of firearms at all. If you can’t pass a background check to buy a gun now, you won’t be able to pass one with constitutional carry either. If you can buy a gun illegally now, constitutional carry won’t make that any easier.
The arguments against constitutional carry are red herrings designed to scare people into letting government take away their rights. Under the current system, each local police department (or, where there isn’t one, the state police) handle the issuance of concealed carry permits, meaning that getting a concealed carry permit can often take an unreasonable amount of time. Unfortunately, in this case, unnecessary delays might very well put someone’s life in danger.
It’s high time in this state that we start treating adults like adults and trusting them to exercise their own rights responsibly. The right to bear arms is enshrined in both the Maine and U.S. constitutions. We need to start treating concealed carry as another aspect of the right to bear arms, just as anonymous speech is an aspect of the right to freedom of speech. We need to start believing in personal responsibility, rather than pandering to the fear instilled in us by those who want to control our lives.
Maine has the chance to be a national leader in expanding gun rights. Let’s not throw that opportunity away.
Maine ping...
Repeal all firearms laws nation wide. All are contrary to the second ammendment.
Ultra-left wing baloney scribbler Stephen King must be filling his Depends.
Ayuh, go Maine!
IMO, there are still too many who would settle a dispute with their firearm and cause a worse backlash by the Drive-by media; however, the trend nationwide is laudable.
Maine is actually a pretty neat place. I spent a little time in Bah Hahbuh.
If it is already the case in Vermont how is this leading instead of following what Vermont has already done?
Kansas to allow concealed guns without permit
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3272894/posts
What’s he filling his Depends with?
A general store near the Long Trail sold a t shirt that said 'Expose yourself to the Long Trail' and it had a nude family on the front and back.
“If it is already the case in Vermont how is this leading instead of following what Vermont has already done?”
Vermont has always constitutional carry, since it existed, 1791, as I recall. All other states were when the Bill of Rights was ratified. Gradually, infringements on the second amendment started piling up in the States, first in the Slave States to prohibit slaves and free blacks from carrying, then a big rush of southern states after the Civil War, or War between the States, to disarm freed slaves or former confederates, or both; then to protect organized crime in New York and to disarm immigrants as “Progressive” politicians won elections in the NorthEast MidWest, and West, from about 1900 to WWII.
Now the States have started rolling back these infringements, Alaska repealed restrictions on concealed carry in 2003, then Arizona and Wyoming, then Arkansas in 2013. It looks likely that Kansas or Montana will be next, then maybe Maine, all this year. Bills have been pending in about another dozen states. West Virginia’s Governor vetoed one that had overwhelming support; Montana’s Governor Bullock may veto the one that is on his desk.
Texas could eventually come around; they had one of the strongest guarantees to the right to bear arms before the War between the States; their supreme court ruled that even slaves had the right to keep and bear arms! But Texas is hampered by RINOs and lots of leftist media.
If there is no permit, then its not a permit holder causing problems
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