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Redundancy is not always a bad thing. Sometimes, it is good to have a backup plan or extra safeguards to make sure a system works as it should.
That is how we approach LD 22, a bill being considered in Augusta that would create a new Class D crime for people who “knowingly or intentionally” sell or transfer firearms to others who are legally prohibited from having them (a first offense would be a civil violation and subsequent offenses would be Class D crimes).
As bill sponsor Sen. Anne Carney, a Democrat from Cape Elizabeth, explained to members of the Maine Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee in April, the proposal stems from a recommendation of Maine’s Deadly Force Review Panel.
That panel looks at deaths and serious injuries resulting from the use of force by members of law enforcement, and has found that some of the people in these situations have used firearms against others or responding law enforcement officers despite being prohibited from having guns under federal and state law.
“In the January 2022 report, the panel asked the Legislature to pass legislation that would prevent access to firearms by people already prohibited from having them,” Carney told the committee.
A report from Maine Public last week illustrated the scope of the problem, citing several recent examples of prohibited users, including accused murderer Joseph Eaton, who obtained guns before allegedly killing four people at a home in Bowdoin — his parents and two family friends — and shooting three strangers on Interstate 295 in Yarmouth.
Feder al and state law has long prohibited certain individuals from possessing firearms, including people who have committed certain crimes and people subject to mental health or domestic violence orders. And yet, far too many of these so-called prohibited persons are able to obtain guns and sometimes commit violent crimes. This is both a human tragedy and a policy failure, and it does not need to be a foregone conclusion.
Laws are not going to stop all criminal behavior, but that is not a reason to ignore obvious ways that they can be improved or better enforced. LD 22, as amended, would be such a step to better enforce existing restrictions.
We aren’t alone in this recognition. Sheriff’s across Maine agree.
“Maine’s 16 sheriffs are elected officials representing Democrats, Republicans, and independents,” Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce testified on behalf of the Maine Sheriffs’ Association. “Many bills do not offer the potential for all parties to agree. LD 22, however, has all sheriffs in agreement that this bill makes good sense.”
Several health care professionals also testified in favor of the bill.
“If it has been determined that an individual has been prohibited from owning a firearm then impeding the transfer of firearms to these prohibited persons only makes sense,” Mary Tedesco-Schneck testified on behalf of the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Critics like the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine have called this proposal redundant. We call it a sensible step in state law to ensure that a longstanding federal prohibition is actually followed. Redundancies are built into all kinds of systems in order to ensure they work as they are supposed to. So why not this one, to take an extra step to try to keep guns out of the hands of people who American society, through our laws, have long determined shouldn’t have access to them?
All sorts of crimes are illegal at both the federal and state level. And all sorts of prohibited people are still able to access firearms, which are sometimes used in crimes. This law won’t stop those illegal transfers and sales completely, but it will make such exchanges harder here in Maine and give state enforcement more teeth. That is a modest and worthwhile step.
Sensible, balanced action to address gun violence is both needed and possible. This bill is one small piece of a complicated puzzle, but it offers a collaborative building block for the future. It should be passed by the Legislature, signed by the governor, and would serve as proof that action can in fact be taken to address gun violence while continuing to respect lawful gun owners.
Prohibited persons by definition are not lawful gun owners, and people who knowingly provide them with guns aren’t operating within the law, either. Given the ways that existing laws are circumvented, it makes good sense to build in some legal redundancy with LD 22.
