(Note, this is a legislative proposal in Maine. Strimling is in the Maine legislature.)
http://www.pressherald.com/news/nemitz/040114nemitz.shtml
...
"We aren't talking about expanding the law," Strimling said this week. "We're just talking about keeping the law as it is."
Concerns about the future of assault weapons began to intensify last spring, when U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay let it be known that he will allow the federal ban to expire as scheduled this September rather than let the House of Representatives vote to renew it or, as some would prefer, make it even tougher.
Worried that this would mean a major step backward for anyone with an aversion to threaded barrels, flash suppressors and various other doodads that help define assault weapons, Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence asked Strimling to draft a statute that would mirror the federal ban - and thus still prohibit the sale of such firearms in Maine if and when the federal ban expires.
"It's just a safety measure because things are looking so shaky at the federal level," said Cathie Whittenburg, executive director of Maine Citizens.
Strimling's bill, however, came under fire the moment he submitted it to the Legislative Council - a group of 10 legislative leaders who decide which pieces of legislation will be considered each session and which won't. Because this is the 121st Legislature's second regular session, only "emergency legislation" is allowed over the threshold.
On its first pass, Strimling's bill lost by an 8-2 council vote. He then appealed on the grounds that folks, this is an emergency, but the 5-5 second vote fell one short of the six needed to send the bill on to a committee hearing.
Some opponents argued that with the federal ban still in place, there is no emergency. Others scoffed that with President George Bush on record supporting the ban, House Majority Leader DeLay is just blowing smoke.
"If the president wants it, we'll see a vote in the (U.S.) House," said Rep. Joe Bruno, R-Raymond, Maine's house minority leader. As long as it stays at the federal level, Bruno added, "I think it's a good law."
...
http://www.pressherald.com/news/nemitz/040114nemitz.shtml
...
"We aren't talking about expanding the law," Strimling said this week. "We're just talking about keeping the law as it is."
Concerns about the future of assault weapons began to intensify last spring, when U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay let it be known that he will allow the federal ban to expire as scheduled this September rather than let the House of Representatives vote to renew it or, as some would prefer, make it even tougher.
Worried that this would mean a major step backward for anyone with an aversion to threaded barrels, flash suppressors and various other doodads that help define assault weapons, Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence asked Strimling to draft a statute that would mirror the federal ban - and thus still prohibit the sale of such firearms in Maine if and when the federal ban expires.
"It's just a safety measure because things are looking so shaky at the federal level," said Cathie Whittenburg, executive director of Maine Citizens.
Strimling's bill, however, came under fire the moment he submitted it to the Legislative Council - a group of 10 legislative leaders who decide which pieces of legislation will be considered each session and which won't. Because this is the 121st Legislature's second regular session, only "emergency legislation" is allowed over the threshold.
On its first pass, Strimling's bill lost by an 8-2 council vote. He then appealed on the grounds that folks, this is an emergency, but the 5-5 second vote fell one short of the six needed to send the bill on to a committee hearing.
Some opponents argued that with the federal ban still in place, there is no emergency. Others scoffed that with President George Bush on record supporting the ban, House Majority Leader DeLay is just blowing smoke.
"If the president wants it, we'll see a vote in the (U.S.) House," said Rep. Joe Bruno, R-Raymond, Maine's house minority leader. As long as it stays at the federal level, Bruno added, "I think it's a good law."
...
