Maine lawmakers weigh proposals to beef up firearm storage, hold agreements

Lawmakers held a public hearing Wednesday afternoon for a bipartisan proposal to protect people who enter into an agreement to hold firearms for someone else. 

Rep. Vicki Doudera (D-Camden) introduced the legislation during a public hearing with the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee that included three other bills about hold agreements, secure storage and keeping firearms in unoccupied vehicles. Earlier in the day, the committee also heard proposals to repeal the state’s 72-hour waiting period and background check requirement for private sales. 

This is the second wave of gun legislation before the committee this session. The committee already rejected proposals to amend Maine’s concealed carry laws, while legislation seeking to address large-capacity magazines divided Democrats. 

Gun rights advocates were largely supportive of the bills regarding hold agreements, so long as they were voluntary agreements, but pushed back on the storage proposals with concerns that they penalize law-abiding citizens and victims of crimes. 

Under a firearms hold agreement, LD 1104 would offer legal protection for the person who agrees to hold a firearm for someone else. The legislation would give the holder immunity after the firearm is returned, unless their conduct is otherwise unlawful. 

Doudera said she imagined people may want to utilize an agreement like this in a variety of scenarios. For example, when selling a house and people are touring, or when grandchildren are visiting, or during tumultuous personal times such as divorce. 

However, Doudera said she actually prefers the language in a similar proposal from Rep. Steven Wood (R-Greene), LD 1174.

That bill would also give a gun shop immunity when taking possession of a firearm owned by a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces or first responders under a firearm hold agreement. The parties would need to have contact every six months and the firearm would need to be stored separately from the shop’s inventory.

Wood envisioned his bill being a tool for those populations when they are in crisis; however, Rep. Dani O’Halloran (D-Brewer) wondered if a gun shop is the appropriate entity to deal with those individuals when they are in crisis. 

Doudera said her only issue with the bill is that she would like to see it extended to the general population, not just veterans and first responders. Wood said the gun shop owners he spoke with were concerned they wouldn’t have enough capacity to offer that service so broadly. 

The committee also asked questions about how these proposals would comply with certain federal regulations on how gun shops are required to manage their inventory and when they need to conduct background checks when transferring firearms. 

Proposals about firearm storage

There were also two proposals about how and where firearms can be stored. 

Under current law, it is a Class D crime to store a loaded firearm in a way that allows children under 16 to gain access to them without permission. Rep. Dan Sayre (D-Kennebunk) wants to expand those laws so someone is liable if their negligent storage leads to a person who is prohibited from possessing a firearm gains access to one.

LD 1120 would make it a Class D crime to store a firearm in a way that a minor or a prohibited person could gain access and use it in a crime or display it in a threatening manner. It would be a more serious Class C crime if the firearm is used to kill someone or cause serious bodily harm.

Class D crimes are punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $2,000 fine, while for Class C crimes that increases to five years and $5,000.  

Sayre said his bill doesn’t infringe on the right to own a gun, but offers “additional incentives for all owners to do what responsible owners are doing already” in regards to storage. He said the gun owners would be held liable if they knew a minor or prohibited person was likely to gain access. 

The Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics supported the storage bills, seeing it as a way to prevent accidental injury and death, especially of children. 

Sayre’s bill includes a third component to require licensed firearm dealers to post a notice in areas where guns are sold or transferred stating that access to a firearm in the home significantly increases the risk of suicide, death during domestic violence disputes and unintentional death of children.

There was also a proposal from Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Portland) that she said is designed to address the theft of handguns from vehicles without penalizing people who have their cars broken into. LD 1299 would prohibit a person from storing a handgun in an unoccupied vehicle, unless it is out of plain view and locked specifically in a hard-sided container with the car locked. 

It includes exceptions for law enforcement, active military members and certain hunting activities. It also outlines a civil penalty for violation.

Other committee members, as well as gun rights organizations, raised questions about how effective a hard-side container is if cheap ones can be easily broken or simply taken, in comparison to a locked glove compartment that someone couldn’t remove from the car. 

While Justin Davis, state director for the National Rifle Association, said he supports safe storage and reducing gun thefts, he doesn’t believe these bills are the appropriate vehicles because he argued they are not fair to gun owners who are victims of a crime.