PURE DEFENSIVE GUN FREEDOM FOR MAINE

PURE GUN FREEDOM APPROACHES MAINE

By Beth Brogan, Times Record Staff
Published:
Wednesday, February 23, 2011 2:12 PM EST

LISBON — Proposals by Republican state legislators to repeal Maine’s
gun control laws set the stage for a new political standoff at the State House.

Among the handful of bills expected to set off the biggest firestorm
is legislation sponsored by Rep. Dale Crafts, R-Lisbon, that would —
among other changes — repeal the requirement for a license to carry
a concealed weapon in Maine.

LD 658, “An Act To Modify the Requirement of a License To Carry
a Concealed Weapon,” would make Maine’s concealed weapons
law “similar to Vermont, Arizona and Alaska law, which basically
allows you to legally carry concealed guns without a license.

Current Maine law requires anyone who wishes to carry a concealed
weapon to obtain a license. Local law enforcement agencies now
process concealed weapons applications. Other laws prohibit guns
from being taken into such locations as schools, courthouses and the State House.

Crafts’ bill also would reduce fees related to acquiring gun licenses,
extend the duration of carry licenses and allow applicants to apply
a gun safety course taken at any time as a qualification for a license.
At present, Mainers must demonstrate that they completed a gun
safety course within five years of applying for a license.

Opponents, including Democratic legislators and gun control
advocates, call Crafts’ legislation “outrageous” and “a nightmare.”

Armed equals safer

“I have been telling people this,” Crafts said Tuesday. “When you look
at the tragedy in Arizona with the congresswoman (Rep. Gabrielle Giffords,
D-Ariz.) ... just imagine if some of her staff were [gun] carriers.
I’m not saying there would have been [fewer] people killed,
but there could have been. It only makes sense that with criminals around,
why shouldn’t we be armed? Especially with her being a
congresswoman. We have some crazy people out there.”

Crafts referred to a Jan. 8, 2011, shooting near Tucson, Ariz.,
in which Giffords was shot in the head, six people were killed and 13
others injured after a man opened fire at a supermarket where
Giffords was meeting constituents.

Crafts pointed to a provision in his bill that would allow license
holders to take concealed weapons into more locations, noting,
“I’m trying to encourage people to get a concealed weapons license
because I believe an armed society is a safer society.”

“People are going to say, ‘You didn’t have a background check,
you didn’t take a safety course,’” Crafts said of anticipated opposition.

Crafts’ bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Garrett Mason, R-Lisbon,
and eight Republican members of the House of Representatives.
Mason, Senate chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee, said Tuesday
that he supports Crafts’ bill, pending the committee’s discussion of the proposal.

“It’s an important conversation to have, especially in light of the
things that happened in Arizona with Rep. Giffords,” Mason said.
“It’s important to make sure people have their constitutional right to
carry a weapon” but Sen. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston, on Tuesday
described Crafts’ bill as “outrageous.” She, too, pointed to the
Giffords shooting in Arizona, but used the incident to argue against
the legislation.

“I don’t even have enough words to tell you how upset this makes me,”
Craven said Tuesday of LD 658. “I think the purpose of carrying a
weapon is to intimidate others and [the bill would] make [guns]
very, very available to young people — to children — who are just
playing with them, who don’t even know the danger of them. In the
wake of all that has happened in this country in the last four or five
years, and indeed in the last few weeks in Arizona, I don’t know
what the big push is to make sure people have weapons, and access to weapons.”

Bill Harwood, an attorney and member of the board of Maine Citizens
Against Handgun Violence, said Tuesday that about a half-dozen bills
submitted this session have drawn that group’s attention. While the
organization has not taken a position on Crafts’ bill, Harwood said,
“I suspect we will oppose this bill and will work hard to convince
legislators that in its form, it is not good public policy.”

“This is really a sad development where extreme members of the
gun lobby are pushing a kind of legislation that would essentially try
to arm every citizen on the false premise that we are somehow safer
by introducing more guns into society,” Harwood said. “The reality
is — and all of the reputable and reliable statistics and studies have
demonstrated — that the presence of guns makes it more dangerous
and more likely that someone will be shot,[the bad guy] not less likely.”



Second Amendment

While Crafts said all co-sponsors of the bill are “very strong supporters
of the Second Amendment,” Harwood took issue with Crafts’
characterization of legislation as a Second Amendment issue.

“This bill has nothing to do with the Second Amendment, it has
nothing to do with the Maine hunting tradition,” Harwood said.
“This is a bill that says, we want a society in which, whether we’re
at a high school football game, whether we’re at the Old Port on a
Saturday night in the summer, or at the fireworks on the Fourth of July
when alcohol is consumed — this bill says it’s OK to have people
there who have concealed weapons.”

Crafts said LD 658 is not part of any organized effort to repeal gun
control laws, although he added, “I think what you’ll find this term
is a lot of legislation we tried to get through in the past and couldn’t get anywhere.”

Republicans gained majorities in the Maine House and Senate as a
result of the November 2010 election — for the first time since the 1970s.

“There’s a new group of legislators — some have been in quite
awhile — who are trying to weaken the concealed weapons license
process,” Sen. Stan Gerzofsky, D-Brunswick, said Tuesday.
“They’ve been bringing laws before the Legislature for years now and
whittling away slowly at [state gun control laws]. Maine is one of
the safest states in the country, but it has some very relaxed gun
laws and there’s been a steady movement of relaxing those laws on
carrying weapons over the years.”

Gerzofsky, who also sits on the Criminal Justice Committee, said,
“The committee has traditionally voted in favor of the NRA proposals,”
both due to lobbying efforts and the make-up of the committee —
some of whom “are very strong NRA members.”

Calls to the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative
Action on Tuesday were not returned.

“Republicans and Democrats have different views on how they think
government should run and what government’s responsibility is to
the people,” Mason said. “That’s what you’re seeing. Republicans
are in charge right now and we have an agenda we feel is important
to put in front of the people for their opinion.”

For Craven, however, that agenda isn’t acceptable.

“I think [the Republicans] are out of control with the guns and the
violence and the intimidation and that they don’t care about their
community and they don’t care about a peaceful society,” Craven said.

[All emfasis has been lovingly added by David.]