An Act To Promote the Safe Use and Sale of Firearms
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §10108, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. A, §2 and affected by c. 614, §9, is amended to read:
In establishing the program under this subsection, the commissioner shall:
(1) Rules for safe handling, storage and use of firearms;
(2) Nomenclature and description of various firearms;
(3) Responsibilities of firearm ownership;
(4) Risk factors in the home or community, including identifying individuals who may be a risk to themselves or others; and
(5) Information relating to the availability of firearm safety kits and known local voluntary firearm safety programs.
The commissioner shall review firearm safety courses other than the course under this paragraph, including courses from other jurisdictions, and list on the publicly accessible portion of the department's website a course other than the course under this paragraph that meets the requirements of this paragraph; and
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §393, sub-§1, ¶E, as amended by PL 2009, c. 651, §1, is further amended to read:
(1) Committed involuntarily to a hospital pursuant to an order of the District Court under Title 34-B, section 3864 because the person was found to present a likelihood of serious harm, as defined under Title 34-B, section 3801, subsection 4-A, paragraphs A to C;
(1-A) Admitted to a psychiatric hospital on an emergency basis pursuant to Title 34-B, section 3863;
(2) Found not criminally responsible by reason of insanity with respect to a criminal charge; or
(3) Found not competent to stand trial with respect to a criminal charge.
Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §393, sub-§4-A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 541, §1, is further amended to read:
Relief is not available under this subsection for a person found not criminally responsible by reason of insanity or incompetent to stand trial in a criminal case or a person adjudged by a Probate Court to lack the capacity to contract or manage the person's own affairs.
(1) Application fee; and
(2) Fees for evaluations required by paragraph A.
(1) The applicant waives this confidentiality in writing or on the record of any hearing; or
(2) A court of record so orders. Proceedings relating to the grant or denial of relief are not public proceedings under Title 1, chapter 13.
The commissioner shall make a permanent record, in the form of a summary, of the final decision regarding each application. The summary must include the name of the applicant and indicate whether the application for relief was granted or denied. The information contained in this summary is available for public inspection.
Sec. 4. 15 MRSA §393, sub-§4-B is enacted to read:
Sec. 5. 15 MRSA §455, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. H, §1 and affected by Pt. X, §2, is amended to read:
Sec. 6. 25 MRSA §2003, sub-§1, ¶A, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 478, §2, is amended to read:
Sec. 7. 25 MRSA §2003, sub-§1, ¶D, as amended by PL 2011, c. 298, §7, is further amended to read:
(1) Full name;
(2) Full current address and addresses for the prior 5 years;
(3) The date and place of birth, height, weight, color of eyes, color of hair, sex and race;
(4) A record of previous issuances of, refusals to issue and revocations of a permit to carry concealed firearms, handguns or other concealed weapons by any issuing authority in the State or any other jurisdiction. The record of previous refusals alone does not constitute cause for refusal and the record of previous revocations alone constitutes cause for refusal only as provided in section 2005; and
(5) Answers to the following questions:
(a) Are you less than 18 21 years of age?
(b) Is there a formal charging instrument now pending against you in this State for a crime under the laws of this State that is punishable by imprisonment for a term of one year or more?
(c) Is there a formal charging instrument now pending against you in any federal court for a crime under the laws of the United States that is punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year?
(d) Is there a formal charging instrument now pending against you in another state for a crime that, under the laws of that state, is punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year?
(e) If your answer to the question in division (d) is "yes," is that charged crime classified under the laws of that state as a misdemeanor punishable by a term of imprisonment of 2 years or less?
(f) Is there a formal charging instrument pending against you in another state for a crime punishable in that state by a term of imprisonment of 2 years or less and classified by that state as a misdemeanor, but that is substantially similar to a crime that under the laws of this State is punishable by imprisonment for a term of one year or more?
(g) Is there a formal charging instrument now pending against you under the laws of the United States, this State or any other state or the Passamaquoddy Tribe or Penobscot Nation in a proceeding in which the prosecuting authority has pleaded that you committed the crime with the use of a firearm against a person or with the use of a dangerous weapon as defined in Title 17-A, section 2, subsection 9, paragraph A?
(h) Is there a formal charging instrument now pending against you in this or any other jurisdiction for a juvenile offense that, if committed by an adult, would be a crime described in division (b), (c), (d) or (f) and involves bodily injury or threatened bodily injury against another person?
(i) Is there a formal charging instrument now pending against you in this or any other jurisdiction for a juvenile offense that, if committed by an adult, would be a crime described in division (g)?
(j) Is there a formal charging instrument now pending against you in this or any other jurisdiction for a juvenile offense that, if committed by an adult, would be a crime described in division (b), (c), (d) or (f), but does not involve bodily injury or threatened bodily injury against another person?
(k) Have you ever been convicted of committing or found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disease or defect of committing a crime described in division (b), (c), (f) or (g)?
(l) Have you ever been convicted of committing or found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disease or defect of committing a crime described in division (d)?
(m) If your answer to the question in division (l) is "yes," was that crime classified under the laws of that state as a misdemeanor punishable by a term of imprisonment of 2 years or less?
(n) Have you ever been adjudicated as having committed a juvenile offense described in division (h) or (i)?
(o) Have you ever been adjudicated as having committed a juvenile offense described in division (j)?
(p) Are you currently subject to an order of a Maine court or an order of a court of the United States or another state, territory, commonwealth or tribe that restrains you from harassing, stalking or threatening your intimate partner, as defined in 18 United States Code, Section 921(a), or a child of your intimate partner, or from engaging in other conduct that would place your intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to that intimate partner or the child?
(q) Are you a fugitive from justice?
(r) Are you a drug abuser, drug addict or drug dependent person?
(s) Do you have a mental disorder that causes you to be potentially dangerous to yourself or others?
(t) Have you been adjudicated to be an incapacitated person pursuant to Title 18-A, Article 5, Parts 3 and 4 and not had that designation removed by an order under Title 18-A, section 5-307, subsection (b)?
(u) Have you been dishonorably discharged from the military forces within the past 5 years?
(v) Are you an illegal alien?
(w) Have you been convicted in a Maine court of a violation of Title 17-A, section 1057 within the past 5 years?
(x) Have you been adjudicated in a Maine court within the past 5 years as having committed a juvenile offense involving conduct that, if committed by an adult, would be a violation of Title 17-A, section 1057?
(y) To your knowledge, have you been the subject of an investigation by any law enforcement agency within the past 5 years regarding the alleged abuse by you of family or household members?
(z) Have you been convicted in any jurisdiction within the past 5 years of 3 or more crimes punishable by a term of imprisonment of less than one year or of crimes classified under the laws of a state as a misdemeanor and punishable by a term of imprisonment of 2 years or less?
(aa) Have you been adjudicated in any jurisdiction within the past 5 years to have committed 3 or more juvenile offenses described in division (o)?
(bb) To your knowledge, have you engaged within the past 5 years in reckless or negligent conduct that has been the subject of an investigation by a governmental entity?
(cc) Have you been convicted in a Maine court within the past 5 years of any Title 17-A, chapter 45 drug crime?
(dd) Have you been adjudicated in a Maine court within the past 5 years as having committed a juvenile offense involving conduct that, if committed by an adult, would have been a violation of Title 17-A, chapter 45?
(ee) Have you been adjudged in a Maine court to have committed the civil violation of possession of a useable amount of marijuana, butyl nitrite or isobutyl nitrite in violation of Title 22, section 2383 within the past 5 years?
(ff) Have you been adjudicated in a Maine court within the past 5 years as having committed the juvenile crime defined in Title 15, section 3103, subsection 1, paragraph B of possession of a useable amount of marijuana, as provided in Title 22, section 2383?; and
Sec. 8. 25 MRSA §2003, sub-§1, ¶E, as amended by PL 2011, c. 298, §7, is further amended to read:
(1) At the request of the issuing authority, takes whatever action is required by law to allow the issuing authority to obtain from the Department of Health and Human Services, limited to records of patient committals to Riverview Psychiatric Center and Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center, the courts, law enforcement agencies and the military information relevant to the following:
(a) The ascertainment of whether the information supplied on the application or any documents made a part of the application is true and correct;
(b) The ascertainment of whether each of the additional requirements of this section has been met; and
(c) Section 2005;
(2) If a photograph is an integral part of the permit to carry concealed handguns adopted by an issuing authority, submits to being photographed for that purpose;
(3) If it becomes necessary to resolve any questions as to identity, submits to having fingerprints taken by the issuing authority;
(4) Submits an application fee along with the written application to the proper issuing authority pursuant to the following schedule:
(a) Resident of a municipality or unorganized territory, $35 for an original application and $20 for a renewal, except that a person who paid $60 for a concealed firearms permit or renewal during 1991 or 1992 is entitled to a credit toward renewal fees in an amount equal to $30 for a person who paid $60 for an original application and $45 for a person who paid $60 for a permit renewal. The credit is valid until fully utilized; and
(b) Nonresident, $60 for an original or renewal application; and
(5) Demonstrates to the issuing authority a knowledge of handgun safety. The applicant may fully satisfy this requirement by submitting to the issuing authority, through documentation in accordance with this subparagraph, proof that the applicant has within 5 years prior to the date of application completed a course that included handgun safety offered by or under the supervision of a federal, state, county or municipal law enforcement agency or a firearms instructor certified by a private firearms association recognized as knowledgeable in matters of handgun safety by the issuing authority or by the state in which the course was taken and the course includes the elements under Title 12, section 10108, subsection 1, paragraph B. A course completion certificate or other document, or a photocopy, is sufficient if it recites or otherwise demonstrates that the course meets all of the requirements of this subparagraph.
As an alternative way of fully satisfying this requirement, an applicant may personally demonstrate knowledge of handgun safety to an issuing authority, if the issuing authority is willing to evaluate an applicant's personal demonstration of such knowledge. The issuing authority is not required to offer this 2nd option.
The demonstration of knowledge of handgun safety to the issuing authority may not be required of any applicant who holds a valid state permit to carry a concealed firearm as of April 15, 1990 or of any applicant who was or is in any of the Armed Forces of the United States and has received at least basic firearms training.
Sec. 9. 25 MRSA §2012, as enacted by PL 1991, c. 127, is amended to read:
§ 2012. Sale of firearms to include safety brochure; require evidence of completion of firearm safety course
(1) Rules for safe handling, storage and use of firearms;
(2) Nomenclature and descriptions of various types of firearms; and
(3) Responsibilities of firearm ownership . ;
(4) Risk factors in the home or community, including identifying individuals who may be a risk to themselves or others; and
(5) Information relating to the availability of firearm safety kits and known local voluntary firearm safety programs.
(1) Certification that the buyer has completed a firearm safety course under Title 12, section 10108, subsection 1, paragraph B or equivalent firearm safety course listed pursuant to Title 12, section 10108, subsection 1, paragraph B;
(2) A copy of a current hunting license issued to the buyer under Title 12, chapter 915; or
(3) A copy of a current permit to carry a concealed handgun issued to the buyer under section 2003.
A firearm dealer shall maintain records of all documentation required under this paragraph for each sale of a firearm.
A law enforcement officer or a former law enforcement officer or a member of the United States Armed Forces is exempt from the purchaser requirements of this paragraph.
Sec. 10. 25 MRSA §2013 is enacted to read:
§ 2013. Sale of firearms
Sec. 11. Effective date. Those sections of this Act that amend the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 10108, subsection 1, Title 25, section 2003, subsection 1, paragraph E and Title 25, section 2012 take effect January 1, 2014.
summary
This bill regulates the safe use and sale of firearms by:
1. Prescribing elements for the firearm safety course provided by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife;
2. Including in the list of persons prohibited from possessing a firearm or a concealed handgun a person who has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital on an emergency basis and providing a procedure for such a person to appeal the prohibition;
3. Increasing the fine from $50 to $1,000 for giving a false or fictitious name to a firearm dealer;
4. Increasing the minimum age to obtain a concealed handgun permit from 18 to 21 years of age;
5. Including in the definition of "firearm dealer" a private seller, including a private seller at a gun show;
6. Requiring a firearm dealer to require a buyer to present certification of completion of a firearm safety course or a copy of a current hunting license or current concealed handgun permit prior to sale;
7. Requiring firearm dealers to conduct background checks of buyers, except for sales between family members; and
8. Making a violation of certain requirements for a firearm dealer a civil violation for the first offense and a Class E crime for 2nd and subsequent offenses.