Defend Maine. Vote NO on Gun Control Question 3 this November!
Don't Let New York City and Boston elites dictate Mainers' gun rights.
This proposed initiative in Maine, largely funded by Michael Bloomberg's Everytown for Gun Safety, would amend Me. Stat., 25 § 2014 to add a requirement that no sales or "transfers" of firearms could be made without a background check through a federally licensed firearm dealer. Similar to I-594 in Washington state, the definition of "transfer" is broad enough to encompass any temporary "transfers" of firearms that occur during training, hunting, recreational shooting and defensive use.
Maine Question 3 is NOT ABOUT GUN SALES but applies to any "transfer" of a gun—all loans, gifts, and any other transaction in which a gun is delivered or provided, even if there is no change in ownership or criminal intent, will be regulated.
If passed, Question 3 would criminalize otherwise law-abiding gun owners for simply loaning a firearm to a friend or family member for not complying with excessive requirements.
"Universal" Background Checks are not universal because criminals will never comply with these requirements. According to the National Institute of Justice, "Universal" Background Checks are unenforceable without requiring complete gun registration.
Criminals, by definition, do not obey the law. And no initiative will force them to start. Criminals will continue to acquire firearms where they do now: the black market, theft, and by other illicit means.
Question 3 Is Bad For Maine
This isn't the first initiative backed by Everytown—it's incredibly similar to Nevada's gun control initiative and Washington state's 1-594 initiative. It's time for Maine residents to stand up and send a message that anti-gun interlopers like Michael Bloomberg aren't welcome in Maine.
Bloomberg’s New York City propaganda may say this is a "gun safety" measure, but this gun control initiative has nothing to do with safety or addressing crime—and would only impact law-abiding Mainers. It’s important that Mainers stand up for their rights and not let New York City and Boston elites' money influence the future of Maine! Vote NO on Question 3 this November.
MYTH
“Universal background checks” are a gun safety measure.
FACT
This initiative has nothing to do with safety or addressing crime—the only people impacted would be law-abiding Mainers. Not only are "universal" background checks never universal—criminals, by nature, will never comply with the requirements—they are unenforceable without requiring complete gun registration.
MYTH
The Bloomberg Gun-Control Initiative includes “reasonable exceptions.”
FACT
The initiative supposedly exempts transfers for hunting and shooting ranges, but because of the initiative language, the exemptions are restrictive and confusing. For example, a firearm can be borrowed to shoot at an established shooting range, however, that same activity away from an established range such as private land is not authorized and would constitute an illegal transfer.
MYTH
"Criminals go to gun shows to buy guns with no background check."
FACT
In each of several studies by the U.S. Department of Justice over the last 23 years, between 0.6 and 0.8 percent of state prison inmates incarcerated for gun crimes obtained guns at gun shows. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Guns Used in Crime, July 1995; Firearms Use by Offenders, November 2001; and Firearm Violence, 1993-2011, May 2013.)
In the Guardian, Lois Beckett highlights a new study that has found that background-check laws in Washington and Colorado have “had little measurable effect”.
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Every vote counts! Defeating this initiative will require that every single freedom-loving Mainer get registered and show up at the polls on election day.