Limits on guns in Maine
Maine has a tradition of hunting and gun ownership. But after an Army reservist killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in Lewiston, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills called for a variety of new laws aimed at preventing dangerous people from possessing guns and strengthening mental health services.
Before adjourning its 2024 session early Thursday, lawmakers approved measures imposing a 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases, expanding background checks on private gun sales and criminalizing sales to certain prohibited people. They also passed a ban on devices that convert semi-automatic firearms into rapid-firing weapons like machine guns, and enhanced an existing law that allows judges to temporarily remove guns from people during a mental health crisis.
A gun safety coalition praised it as a significant step forward in response to constituents' concerns after the Lewiston shooting. But Republican state Sen. Lisa Keim criticized colleagues for “using the tragedy to advance legislation” that had been unable to pass previously.
Republican-led legislatures in Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah also passed measures this year that would expand the ability of some people to bring guns into schools. A bill passed in Wyoming allots $480,000 to reimburse schools for the cost of training employees to carry guns on school property.
Louisiana and South Carolina, led by Republican lawmakers and governors, each enacted laws allowing people to carry concealed guns without a permit. The National Rifle Association, which supported the measures, said similar laws now exist in 29 states.
By contrast, the Democrat-led Delaware Legislature passed legislation requiring people wanting to buy a handgun to first be fingerprinted, undergo training and obtain a state permit.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, signed a pair of new laws imposing restrictions. One sets a seven-day waiting period to purchase firearms — more than double the threeday period required by the federal government for a background check.
Another new law in New Mexico prohibits carrying firearms within 100 feet (30 meters) of polling places, with an exemption for concealed-carry permit holders. Voting site restrictions on guns now exist in about one-third of the states and Washington, D.C., according to the gun-violence prevention group Giffords.