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PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Following a last-minute order from the state, gun dealers in Maine on Friday required a three-day waiting period to buy weapons under one among the brand new safety laws passed after the state's deadliest mass killing.
Maine joins a dozen other states with similar laws, requiring buyers to attend 72 hours before completing a purchase order and picking up a gun. The law is one among several gun-related bills passed after an Army reservist killed 18 people and injured 13 others in Lewiston on Oct. 25, 2023.
While the brand new law wouldn’t have prevented the tragedy – the shooter had purchased his weapons legally months earlier – Friday's milestone was nonetheless celebrated by gun safety advocates who consider the law will prevent gun deaths by giving individuals who intend to harm others or themselves by purchasing a gun a cooling-off period.
“These new laws will certainly save lives, both here in Maine and across the country,” said Nacole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition.
Gun shop owners complained in regards to the policy, which was only released Tuesday, and the lack of revenue from out-of-state visitors during Maine's busy summer season. They also said the wait time will negatively impact gun shows.
In Kittery, Dave Labbe of the Kittery Trading Post said his foremost store may have virtually no gun sales starting Friday because customers subject to the wait may have to return to select up their firearms. He fears customers is not going to buy guns because they should make an additional trip to the shop due to wait.
“You can imagine how I feel,” he said.
Unlike other Maine dealers, Kittery Trading Post allows out-of-state buyers of rifles and shotguns to bring those sales to the New Hampshire location and complete them the identical day. But that increases the fee of doing business and is inconvenient for patrons. In some cases, customers may prefer to ship the gun to a dealer of their home state, Labbe said.
Some retailers claimed the guidance was late and vague.
“It's as clear as mud,” said Laura Whitcomb of Gun Owners of Maine, noting that there are gray areas, equivalent to the legal definition of the “agreement” that have to be reached for the waiting period to start.
Critics of the law have said they plan to sue. They claim it only hurts law-abiding residents while doing nothing to stop criminals from obtaining guns illegally. They also claim that if individuals who wish to harm themselves are unable to purchase a gun locally, they are going to simply find one other way.
The waiting period law went into effect without the signature of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. It was one among several bills passed after the mass killings at a bowling alley and a bar and grill in Lewiston.
In her State of the Union address, Mills told MPs that doing nothing after the tragedy was not an option.
The laws strengthened the state's so-called “yellow flag” law, which allows the taking of guns from a mental health crisis, criminalized the transfer of guns to individuals with prohibited access and required background checks for people offering a gun on the market on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace or elsewhere.
Maine has a protracted hunting tradition and the bills faced opposition from Republicans who accused Democrats, who control each houses of the legislature, of using the tragedy to push through bills, a few of which had previously been rejected.
image credit : www.boston.com