Here is another useful bullet list.
Know the Truth about Bloomberg's “Gun Background Check” Law!
1. This law would ban all transfers in Maine between two individuals, whether they be permanent or temporary transfers. It will become against the law to loan your best friend a shotgun so he can go hunting for a weekend.
2. This law is backed, financed, organized, supported and run by out of state money and out of state political organizations to make Maine more like MA, CT, NY and NJ.
3. The former Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, is the chief financial backer.
4. Most signature collectors are hired and paid for by an out of state firm with money supplied by Michael Bloomberg's anti-gun political organizations. Their effort is not a Maine grassroots effort.
5. If this proposed law gets on the ballot, Mainers will be bombarded by thousands and thousands of advertisements extolling the need for New York Style gun control here in Maine. This will be far worse than the bear hunting referendum as Michael Bloomberg has much more money than the Humane Society.
6. This law will require you to go to a gun store, fill out a form 4473, pay what ever fee the store requires and get federal permission, all to just buy a gun from your neighbor and/or best friend.
7. Under US vs. Haynes, any person who cannot pass a background check cannot be charged with failing to have one done since doing so would be a violation of their 5th Amendment rights. The only people who can be charged under this law are people who can pass the background check. How will that help fight crime?
8. This law is the first step towards registration. Once all gun transfers must be done with a 4473, all that will be needed is a new law or an executive order requiring that all 4473s and accompanying records need to be stored in a central database.
9. All gun dealers must conduct a background check whether they are at their store, at a gun show or any other place. This has been the law since 1998.
10. It has been the law since 1968 that you cannot buy a gun from a private party who is not a resident of your own state. Any gun bought on-line out of state must be shipped to a gun store to transfer to you.
11. An unintended consequence of this law will be to make many law abiding Mainers criminals for doing normal things that they have been doing for years. This law would make “furnishing” a gun to another person illegal. That means if you give access to a gun to another person then you have committed a crime. This could be as simple as going into a gas station while leaving your shotgun in the car with a friend.
12. Mainers do not need New York style gun control in our state. Do not sign this petition. It will do nothing to fight crime but it will make criminals out of good Maine people.
This document was produced by Project Educate, an independent grass roots project of concerned Maine citizens who want to keep our tradition of gun ownership alive and well for the next generation of Mainers.