A top official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Wednesday held a private briefing with Democratic lawmakers on the Maine Legislature's Judiciary Committee, one day before the panel is expected to debate a slate of gun safety proposals.
The information session with James Vann, a deputy assistant director with ATF, was originally supposed to be a public discussion with the entire committee but was instead held with just Democratic lawmakers behind closed doors.
Republicans members did not attend a private briefing for them, citing the lack of transparency.
While Maine's public meeting law prohibits three or more committee members from meeting in secret, state legislators have long leaned on statements from the Office of Attorney General that partisan caucuses are not a violation -- a view that has never been legally challenged and allows lawmakers to routinely skirt the law.
According to a Democratic spokesperson, the Department of Justice would not agree to a public information session, but would allow Vann to brief members behind closed doors.
The briefing took about 90 minutes and came as the committee works on proposals to ban so-called bump stocks, impose a three-day waiting period for firearm purchases and other measures drafted in response to the Lewiston shootings last October.
While Republican members of the committee did not attend a private briefing in protest, their caucus leaders signaled Tuesday that their members are likely to oppose such gun safety measures. They argue that the interim report by the commission investigating the massacre in Lewiston is proof that Maine's existing laws are sufficient and could have prevented the shootings.
Their assertion is anchored to a finding by the commission that officials with the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office should have used Maine's so-called yellow flag law to confiscate the gunman's firearms six weeks before he carried out the worst mass shooting in state history. The commission acknowledged that the law is "cumbersome," but "dedication and persistence" on behalf of law enforcement and the Army Reserves may have changed the course of events last October.
The finding was "unanimous" by the seven-member commission, although it's unclear how and when the panel voted before releasing its 30-page interim report last Friday evening.
The report contained no specific policy recommendations and is expected to be followed by a more detailed report later this year. The commission has held six public hearings, but it has also met privately an undisclosed number of times. It's been allowed to that because it was exempted from some sections of Maine's Freedom of Access Act when it was created as an advisory board via executive order by Gov. Janet Mills.
