AUGUSTA, Maine - A bill that would allow Mainers to carry concealed weapons without a permit advanced in the Legislature today after the state Senate approved the measure in a 21-14 vote.
Opponents voiced concerns over the legislation's failure to include a firearms' training requirement and its implications for an existing reciprocity agreement among states requiring permits for concealed weapons.
But the bill's supporters prevailed, saying current law does little to make law-abiding citizens feel any safer.
The debate over what's known as the constitutional carry bill didn't change many minds in the Maine Senate. With nearly 100 bipartisan co-sponsors, LD 652 is one of the most popular bills in this year's legislative session.
Sen. Eric Brakey, an Auburn Republican, told his seat mates that's largely due to an obvious inconsistency under Maine law. "Currently anyone who can legally purchase a handgun, as long as it remains visible, that is, open carry - the moment you put on a jacket that covers up your handgun, however, you are now an instant criminal."
Sometimes known as Vermont Carry or permitless carry, Brakey 's bill draws its name from the literal interpretation of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. That means that unless an individual is expressly prohibited from possessing a firearm the Constitution clearly states he or she has the right to keep and bear arms.
For years, Maine has required anyone who wants to carry a concealed firearm to apply for a concealed weapons permit. But Brakey says that's the wrong approach. He questions the logic of asking law-abiding citizens to jump through bureaucratic hoops in order to exercise what he says is clearly a constitutional right.
"Lacking a permit is not going to stop a criminal without respect for the law from carrying concealed," Brakey said. "This policy only impacts those who seek to remain law-abiding citizens - those who choose to participate with the permitting system. By erecting barriers to the legal right to bear arms, we disarm the very people who enhance public safety and empower those intent on doing harm."
"I can't tell you how many law enforcement people that we know, we have relationships with, we know what they're thinking and we know what they're advice is," said Sen. Stan Gerzofsky. "Their advice is not to let this bill see the light of day,"
Gerzofsky is a Brunswick Democrat and a member of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee who voted with the panel's 7-6 majority to recommend that lawmakers reject Brakey's bill. Gerzofsky says it will send mixed messages to people with concealed weapons permits inside and outside the state.
Currently Mainers and out-of-staters with concealed weapons permits are allowed to carry in each other's states under reciprocity agreements. Because Brakey did not want to undermine those agreements, his bill allows Maine's concealed weapons permit law to stand.
Gerzofsky says if Brakey's bill passes it will create two classes of concealed weapons adherents in Maine - those with permits and those without.
"We're going to protect the people who can't pass safety tests, we're going to grant the people that can't pass the background check on a concealed weapons permit to just carry a gun anyway - I don't understand that," Gerzofsky said.
The absence of a training component is also a concern for state Sen. Anne Haskell, a Portland Democrat, who warned that if the bill goes through, Mainers who find themselves in what they perceive to be a threatening situation will need to carefully weigh the full range of possibilities that could unfold.
"This is not Hollywood, you don't wound people in the knee if they're in one of those difficult situations - that's not what it's about," Haskell said.
The Maine Chiefs of Police and Maine Sheriffs associations both oppose the bill, but Maine State Police support it. They say the state would be better off without a concealed weapons permit law. Sen. David Burn is a Whiting Republican and former state police sergeant.
"As far as law-abiding citizens being able to carry a weapon, that doesn't concern me whatsoever," Burns said.
The bill faces additional votes in the House and Senate.