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Bill proposes waiting period for gun buyers
By The Associated Press
Monday, February 26, 2007 - Bangor Daily News
AUGUSTA - Legislators will consider a gun-control bill that would require anyone under 21 to wait 10 days before buying a rifle or shotgun.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Margaret Craven of Lewiston, is similar to one she proposed two years ago that mandated a 10-day waiting period for anyone under 22 wanting to buy a gun.
Craven is sponsoring the bill with the support of Catherine Crowley of Lewiston, whose 18-year-old son killed himself with a newly purchased shotgun in 2004.
Supporters of the bill say a waiting period could cut down on the number of young people who commit suicide using rifles or shotguns, also known as "long guns." Opponents say the bill is well-intentioned but misguided, and that there is no evidence to suggest that waiting periods reduce youth suicides.
The Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will hold a public hearing on the bill on Monday.
Crowley’s failed effort to get a bill passed two years ago was documented in a film, "There Ought To Be A Law." She thinks the bill’s chances are better this time around given the attention that the film has focused on the issue.
"I’m looking toward the possibility that it will pass," she said. "But I’m prepared to go back [in future years] if it doesn’t."
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for Mainers aged 15 to 24, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. From 1999 to 2003, 50 percent of the suicides by Mainers aged 10 to 24 involved guns, according to government statistics.
Crowley doesn’t think her son would have killed himself if there had been a waiting period to give him some time to get help or at least think through whatever was haunting him.
Gun shop owners say the bill is a "feel-good" measure that would accomplish little.
"Once people get to that point of despondency," a waiting period may not deter them, said Kim Adams, vice president for shooting sports at the Kittery Trading Post. "I don’t think it would be particularly effective."
George Smith of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine said he will suggest that lawmakers reject waiting periods and pass a law instead requiring that anyone 18 or younger get parental consent to buy a long gun.
Under Maine law, a buyer must be at least 16 to buy a long gun from a private seller and at least 18 to buy a long gun from a federally licensed dealer. For handguns, the minimum ages are 18 from a private seller and 21 from a licensed dealer.
The Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee took Smith’s advice when he proposed the same thing two years ago and replaced the waiting period with parental consent, but neither version passed.
Smith said most teenagers who kill themselves do so with a gun from home, so education about safety is more useful than imposing a waiting period on purchases.
Bill proposes waiting period for gun buyers
By The Associated Press
Monday, February 26, 2007 - Bangor Daily News
AUGUSTA - Legislators will consider a gun-control bill that would require anyone under 21 to wait 10 days before buying a rifle or shotgun.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Margaret Craven of Lewiston, is similar to one she proposed two years ago that mandated a 10-day waiting period for anyone under 22 wanting to buy a gun.
Craven is sponsoring the bill with the support of Catherine Crowley of Lewiston, whose 18-year-old son killed himself with a newly purchased shotgun in 2004.
Supporters of the bill say a waiting period could cut down on the number of young people who commit suicide using rifles or shotguns, also known as "long guns." Opponents say the bill is well-intentioned but misguided, and that there is no evidence to suggest that waiting periods reduce youth suicides.
The Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will hold a public hearing on the bill on Monday.
Crowley’s failed effort to get a bill passed two years ago was documented in a film, "There Ought To Be A Law." She thinks the bill’s chances are better this time around given the attention that the film has focused on the issue.
"I’m looking toward the possibility that it will pass," she said. "But I’m prepared to go back [in future years] if it doesn’t."
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for Mainers aged 15 to 24, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. From 1999 to 2003, 50 percent of the suicides by Mainers aged 10 to 24 involved guns, according to government statistics.
Crowley doesn’t think her son would have killed himself if there had been a waiting period to give him some time to get help or at least think through whatever was haunting him.
Gun shop owners say the bill is a "feel-good" measure that would accomplish little.
"Once people get to that point of despondency," a waiting period may not deter them, said Kim Adams, vice president for shooting sports at the Kittery Trading Post. "I don’t think it would be particularly effective."
George Smith of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine said he will suggest that lawmakers reject waiting periods and pass a law instead requiring that anyone 18 or younger get parental consent to buy a long gun.
Under Maine law, a buyer must be at least 16 to buy a long gun from a private seller and at least 18 to buy a long gun from a federally licensed dealer. For handguns, the minimum ages are 18 from a private seller and 21 from a licensed dealer.
The Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee took Smith’s advice when he proposed the same thing two years ago and replaced the waiting period with parental consent, but neither version passed.
Smith said most teenagers who kill themselves do so with a gun from home, so education about safety is more useful than imposing a waiting period on purchases.