Proposed ME anti-gun laws

[Ray P]

Recent info from one of the the local gun clubs here in southern ME:

Dear Friends,
City of Portland state Senator Ethan Strimling (D-8), has introduced Legislative Document 1111 (Amended) "The Maine Burglar Protection Act"
This bill will require Maine residents to keep ALL their firearms locked up when at home. This bill, if enacted into law, would leave families in Maine with no ready means to defend themselves should a criminal break into their home. In the time it takes to find a key, (or remember the combination), to a locked gun cabinet and then find the manual dexterity to put it into use, a law breaker could have already injured, raped, or killed a family member before a home protection firearm could be brought to bear.
Here is another feel good bill that would only help a criminal and leave the honest citizen a target.

State Senator Karl Turner (R-11) Has introduced a bill that will require all those people who wish to renew their Right To Carry permit to attend yet another firearms safety course. This bill removes the exemptions to current handgun safety course requirements for an applicant or holder who has received basic firearms training as a member of the United States Armed Forces.

Both of these bills will go to the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee work session on Wednesday April 11, 2007. Please contact your state Representatives, (telephone # 1-800-423-29000, and state Senators, (telephone # 1-800-423-6900) and ask them to oppose these bills. The honest citizens of Maine are already keeping those laws currently on the books. The dishonest criminals are already breaking them.
Thank you and GOD bless,

CLINTON STAPLES

Any thoughts on how I could improve the following *DRAFT* e-mail to my state legislators?

Legislative Document 1111

Dear Representative xxx:

As one of your constituants, I am asking you to oppose Senator Ethan Strimling's (D, Portland) Legislative Document 1111 (Amended) "The Maine Burglar Protection Act". His proposal would strip Maine citizens of their right to establish an individual balance between secure storage and protective access.

If passed, this legislation would require the battered abuse victim to lock away her only immediate protection; mandating she meet the same storage requirements as the rare-firearm collector that rarely, if ever, actually uses pieces of his collection for anything beyond display.

Please act to preserve our rights of self-defense and self-determination by opposing Senator Strimling's proposal.

Respectfully,

~

 

[Jose]

"Burglar Protection Act"???

WTF??? Please tell me the above is a late April Fool's joke......

 

[TomH]

We wouldn't want the burglers getting shot now would we.

 

[Ray P]

"Burglar Protection Act"???

WTF??? Please tell me the above is a late April Fool's joke......

While I suspect the author of the original comment re-named the proposed bill to highlight the key weak point, the proposal itself is real.

 

[cdkayak]

It's actually named something like the "Children's protection act"

The biggest problem with this bill is the ambiguous wording about the trigger lock. This could be interpreted as an integral trigger lock, essentially banning the sale of a large majority of firearms in Maine. Knowing what Strimling has sponsored before I have no doubt the wording is intentional.

 

[jamz]

Just wrote a handwritten letter to Farrington, I'll pop it in the mail later today.