A bill to ban paramilitary training camps in Maine has now passed both chambers of the Legislature.
The measure was inspired by reports last year that a prominent neo-Nazi was building a training camp for his followers in the rural Penobscot County town of Springfield. While the person at the center of controversy has since reportedly sold the land, several lawmakers introduced bills aiming to give police and prosecutors more tools to prevent similar militia training camps from opening in Maine.
The Maine Senate voted 20-14 on Tuesday to give final approval to a bill, LD 2130, to make it illegal to instruct another person in firearms or explosives if the intent is to cause "civil disorder." The bill had passed the House last week by a single vote.
Democratic Sen. Joe Baldacci of Bangor said during a floor speech on Tuesday that private militias are already prohibited in Maine but that the law needed to be updated.
"So I think this bill is about us saying we are going to draw the line. We are not going to allow people to flout the law and intimidate others," Baldacci said.
Opponents raised concerns that the bill could infringe on free speech as well as peaceful gatherings of people whose views may be out-of-step with popular beliefs or government officials.
The bill now goes to Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, a former prosecutor and attorney general. Mills has yet to weigh in on the issue. But the state's current attorney general, Aaron Frey, testified in support of the bill during a committee hearing on the bill in January.
"L.D. 2130, which is very similar to a Vermont law passed last year, would provide us with the tools we need to address a rise in private military activity," Frey said. "By prohibiting paramilitary training, the bill strikes a careful balance between allowing legitimate First Amendment-protected activity (such as peaceful assembly) while prohibiting unprotected conduct that is a precursor to violence."
