How Maine’s Gun Laws Compare to Other States

Maine, where a mass shooting that killed at least 16 people has taken place, has among the weakest gun laws in the country, according to scorecards compiled by several anti-gun violence organizations.

A gunman carrying an assault-style weapon opened fire at Schemengees Bar and Grille restaurant and the Sparetime Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday night, also wounding dozens of people, according to The Associated Press. The suspect, identified as former military officer Robert Card, was still at large as of early on Thursday.

In the wake of the mass shooting, Peter Ambler, executive director of Giffords, an advocacy group promoting gun control, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “We should all be outraged. But we should not be shocked. Increasingly, this [image] is what the gun industry sells. They market assault rifles and conspiracy theories, and profit off the violence.”

Giffords, founded and led by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords—who left the Republican Party in 2000 to join the Democrats—, releases a scorecard grading each state on its gun laws every year. In the latest release, Maine received an F, with Giffords reporting that the state’s “lack of basic gun safety laws puts its residents at grave risk.”

In 2015, Maine passed a permitless carry law that allows its residents to carry loaded, concealed handguns in public without a permit or background checks. That means that any person 21 or older—or at least 18 and active duty or honorably discharged military— who can legally possess a firearm, is allowed to carry a gun openly or concealed. No permit is required to possess a rifle, shotgun, or handgun.

Maine also lacks a “red flag” law to prevent those in crisis from firearm access.

A CompMag fixed magazine conversion kit for an AR-15 rile, installed to make a rifle compliant for restrictive states such as California, is demonstrated at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show at the Orange County Fairgrounds on June 5, 2021 in Costa Mesa, California. No permit is required to possess a rifle, shotgun, or handgun in Maine. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to reducing gun violence in the U.S., lists Maine as one of nine states “missing key [gun] laws” and the 25th state for gun laws strength.

The organization reports that Maine has “very few” foundational gun safety laws. “Despite 89 percent of gun deaths in the state being the result of suicide, the Pine Tree State lacks most basic laws that would help reduce suicide, including background checks for all gun sales, an Extreme Risk law, and waiting periods,” Everytown writes.

“Maine is also a permitless carry state, though it continues to have low gun violence relative to its weaker firearm laws, likely in part because it is protected by the strong laws of other states in the region.”

Everytown reports that the rate of gun deaths per 100,000 residents is 12.6, while the national average is 14.8.

Maine does not require background checks for handgun purchases at point of sale or for permits to purchase—what Everytown considers a foundation gun control law. The state also doesn’t require any person who carries a concealed firearm in public to first obtain a permit to do so.

The Pine Tree State also doesn’t have a law allowing law enforcement and family members to petition for a court order to temporarily prevent someone in a crisis from accessing guns.

Maine doesn’t ban the purchase of assault-style weapons or the purchase of gun magazines larger than a prescribed size. It does not require new handgun models sold in the state to have childproofing features or to include microstamping technology.

In terms of carrying guns in public, the state also doesn’t bar people from carrying concealed weapons after being found guilty of assault or other violent misdemeanors, and doesn’t prevent domestic abusers on short-term emergency orders or people with a hate crime conviction from having guns.

State gun laws also don’t bar people from carrying concealed guns in bars, though they ban weapons in K-12 schools, college campuses, state capitols and demonstrations.

Maine does bar people with felony convictions, with assault or other misdemeanor convictions and fugitives from owning and purchasing guns, as well as people who have been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility or are found to be a danger to themselves or others.

While convicted domestic abusers aren’t required to turn in their guns, those who have received a misdemeanor conviction or are under restraining orders are barred from purchasing new guns. Stalkers aren’t barred from gun possession.

Significantly, there’s no law in place requiring threat assessment programs in Maine’s schools to identify students at risk of violence.

Newsweek contacted Giffords and Everytown for comment by email on Thursday.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

“);jQuery(this).remove()}) jQuery(‘.start-slider’).owlCarousel({loop:!1,margin:10,nav:!0,items:1}).on(‘changed.owl.carousel’,function(event){var currentItem=event.item.index;var totalItems=event.item.count;if(currentItem===0){jQuery(‘.owl-prev’).addClass(‘disabled’)}else{jQuery(‘.owl-prev’).removeClass(‘disabled’)} if(currentItem===totalItems-1){jQuery(‘.owl-next’).addClass(‘disabled’)}else{jQuery(‘.owl-next’).removeClass(‘disabled’)}})}})})