Maine Permitless Carry Reminder!

[Gary Slider]

Starting October 15, 2015 Maine will be Permitless Carry. Anyone who is 21 years of age or Active Military/Veterans 18 – 20 who can legally possess a firearm can carry it concealed in Maine without any type of Permit/License to Carry. There are a few quirks in their new law that people need to be aware of.

For military under 21 years of age you would need to carry your Military ID. For Vets under 21 you would have to have some way of showing you were a vet. Maine has not stated what would be accepted as proof you were a veteran and under 21 years of age. Handgunlaw.us believes the only thing that would show this would be your DD-214 and your state issued Drivers License or State Issued ID.

If carrying in Maine under Permitless Carry and approached by a police officer on any official contact you must immediately inform them you are carrying a firearm by law. If you have a permit/license that Maine honors you do not have a legal obligation to inform.

Maine will now honor all states that honor them. Maine will not honor all other states permit/licenses like all the other states that are permitless carry. They will honor anyone who honors them. Starting October 15, 2015 Maine will honor the following states. AK, AL, AZ, AR, DE, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MO, MS, ND, NC, NE, OH, OK, PA, SD, TN, UT and WY. These states either honor Maine already or they have a signed agreement with Maine. That brings to 24 the number of sates Maine honors up from just 8 previously.

The Permitless Carry law has implications with places off limits. Without a permit/license that Maine honors you can’t carry in the below listed places when carrying under the permitless carry law while those with a permit/license they do honor can.

1. Acadia National Park (Permit required; 12 M.R.S. §756)
2. State Parks (Permit required; open carry not permitted; 12 M.R.S. § 1803(7))
3. Regular archery hunting-deer only (Permit required; 12 MRS § 11403)
4. Employees’ vehicles on work premises (Permit required; vehicle must be locked and firearm
must not be visible; 26 M.R.S. §600)

Maine law is very specific that you have to have a Permit/License to Carry that Maine issues or honors to carry in the above listed locations. Carrying under Permitless Carry would not be legal in those locations. You can see more about this at the Maine State Police here:
http://www.maine.gov/dps/msp/licenses/documents/Summaryoflaw.pdf

There will be some additions to the list of states Maine Honors. Colorado, Florida, West Virginia and Florida are almost certain. New Hampshire is almost certain but New Hampshire does things their own way. Some of the other states that have reciprocity in their law and may honor Maine in the future. Handgunlaw.us has contacted Maine telling them that CO, FL, WV and WY will honor them if they contact them. I have also contacted those four states telling them that Maine law has changed and that they will now honor anyone who honors them and they should contact Maine concerning this. From their replies I believe they have/will contact them. So look for the list of states that Maine honors to grow.

For those who don’t/can’t get a permit in their home state you can obtain a Maine Carry Permit. The application can be printed here:
http://www.maine.gov/dps/msp/licenses/documents/Weapons/non-resident application package.pdf

 

[Spats McGee]

Thank you for your outstanding work, Gary.

 

[Gary Slider]

I should have added that Maine will only honor Resident Permit/Licenses from the states they honor. Maine will not honor any Non Resident permit but their own.

 

[Red Wind]

Thank you, Gary.We appreciate your fine work.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

One important note that I didn't see you mention, it doesn't matter what Maine's law says, permitless carry in a Federal GFSZ (gun free school zone) isn't allowed. By Federal law you must have a permit to carry in a GFSZ, even if your state has permitless carry. And Federal buildings are off limits too, permit or not.

 

[steve4102]

...and that Federal GFSZ is public property 1000 feet from school property.

 

[Gary Slider]

Cataloging firearm laws for 20+ years I have ask numerous times and have searched numerous times and can not find one case and no one has pointed out a case were a person was charged with just breaking the Fed GFSZ Act. I have found cases where the person was charged with breaking that law but only because they had broken another law and almost exclusively the other law they broke was a felony. It is an add on law.

But just because you have a valid permit does not free you from the Fed GFSZ Act. The permit has to be issued by the state you are in. If you are carrying in Maine with a Michigan permit which Maine honors even though you can legally carry in Maine it does not exempt you from the Fed GFSZ Act according to the BATF. You can read the letter they put out on it here: http://www.handgunlaw.us/documents/BATFLetterONGFSZ2013.pdf

They state in this letter and are repeating a previous letter they put out about the GFSZ Act. If this was not an add on law there would be numerous cases as the GFSZ Act is broken thousands if not 10's of thousands of times every day by good citizens and they don't even know they are breaking a federal law.

 

[steve4102]

So, are you saying we should ignore This federal law as it is rarely enforced?

 

[Gary Slider]

You can't ignore any law but you don't have to worry about the Fed GFSZ Act as long as you don't do stupid things.

 

[Red Wind]

So, are you saying we should ignore This federal law as it is rarely enforced?

There are thousands and thousands of schools in the 50 states. Most travelers don't h have a clue as to where these countless schools are located. Florida is reciprocated in 34 states. I've been in 49 of of them.

I'm positive on my travels I've violated this asinine, nonsensical do nothing BATFE ruling more than once. If you've wandered outside Minnesota with a gun and a Minnesota permit, you've probably done the same.

As Gary Slider says, you almost have to do something else to have this apply to you or anyone. The SCOTUS threw it out in USA vs Lopez and Congress slipped it back in under the Commerce Clause.

I mean, if your license in a GFSZ is honored in your own state, why should it be ignored in any other state that honors your permit? It makes zero sense.

 

[swinokur]

The GFSZA prohibits "knowingly possess". If you don't know about the school, you haven't broken the law. IANAL.
.
.

 

[steve4102]

You can't ignore any law but you don't have to worry about the Fed GFSZ Act as long as you don't do stupid things.

Doing Stupid things can indeed draw attention to oneself.

How about using your "Illegally" carried firearm in a Self Defense situation. Think that might draw attention as well?

 

[chipcom]

This is the closest thing to a "common sense" gun control law that I have seen.

Free men don't need permission.

 

[Gary Slider]

There are millions of What If's. If you have to shoot in self defense to keep from being killed and you are in a GFSZ are you going to decide not to shoot because you don't want to break that law?

 

[steve4102]

No, I am going to obey the law and have a State issued permit in my possession.

 

[Red Wind]

No, I am going to obey the law and have a State issued permit in my possession

As we see on this chart ,21 states do not issue non resident carry permits.

Be careful out there!

 

[Salmoneye]

The link below has diagrams of the Gun Free School Zone Act issue in cities around the country...

Vermont has no permitting system, so every person driving by a school (or simply passing through a 1,000 radius many streets away from a school), is technically in violation...

http://www.ok2a-action.org/fedgfsza

 

[steve4102]

Cataloging firearm laws for 20+ years I have ask numerous times and have searched numerous times and can not find one case and no one has pointed out a case were a person was charged with just breaking the Fed GFSZ Act.

Here is one.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/91/United_States_v_Benally_gfsza.pdf

Only Two charges were filed, both were violation of the GFSZA, they were not added on to other charges as far as I can find.

The Government charged Benally and Kelly with possessing a firearm in a school
zone (Count I), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)(A), 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2), and 18
U.S.C. § 2 (aiding and abetting), and knowingly or recklessly discharging a firearm in a
school zone (Count II), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(3)(A), 18 U.S.C. § 924 (a)(4),
and 18 U.S.C. § 2. R., Vol. I, Doc. 1.


18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)(A)

(2)
(A) It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.

18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(3)(A)

(3)
(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), it shall be unlawful for any person, knowingly or with reckless disregard for the safety of another, to discharge or attempt to discharge a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the person knows is a school zone.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/922

They brought a firearm onto school property, An argument with a Baseball Bat wheedling attacker ensued, the firearm discharged.

They were charged with violations of the Gun Free School Zone Act counts 1 and 2.

There ya go.

 

[Peter Gun]

The Vermont point about having no permits has been an issue.
We had a gun show at our local high school for many years, even long after that federal GFSZ law was passed. Those of us who knew thought it was kind of amusing, we certainly didn't think any Feds would cause trouble. After the CT shooting, some anti gun group found out about it and forced them to move to a different location.
We also had a local case where police suspected a man of an armed robbery at Stowe ski area and were unable to find the suspects gun or the cash, but were convinced he was guilty. They followed him and his family around for months trying to catch them disposing of evidence or retrieving the cash. They were aware his brother had a pistol so they found some pretext to search his car at the small local college he attended, voila gun at a school! They arrested him and tried to get him to roll on his brother. Fortunately the local prosecutor declined to prosecute, but the school expelled him.
Many laws like this are never used to actually prosecute someone for the actual crime specified, just to pressure suspects into pleading guilty on others.
By the way, cops were never able to find that evidence, but da foolishly went to trial anyway (prob thinking he would plead) and correctly the man was acquitted as there was very little evidence against him. Everyone around here thinks there's still $50k or more cash still stashed in the woods

 

[Devonai]

If only there were a place for smugglers to hide things. A notch, perhaps.

 

[Peter Gun]

Yup, with caves and stuff...
If the money is in the woods, it's some where in those woods between the ski area and that first bar at the bottom of the hill. I have to admit I looked pretty Extensively but found no trace.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

NH needs to get on board with permitless carry. Last good attempt on passing it, it was Vetoed by the Governor with her saying that "NH doesn't know what it wants".

 

[Red Wind]

Last good attempt on passing it, it was Vetoed by the Governor with her saying that "NH doesn't know what it wants".

Which means the Gov is a liberal lunkhead. Yet, Live Free or Die voters put her in Concord.