Gun Owners of Maine has obtained the draft majority and minority reports for LD 222 of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.
Minority Report
This amendment is the minority report and allows a person who is not otherwise prohibited from possessing a handgun to carry a concealed handgun without a permit. It also allows a person to obtain a concealed handgun permit for purposes of reciprocity with another state. This amendment requires a nonresident must have a valid concealed handgun permit in that person’s state of residence before that person is eligible for a Maine concealed handgun permit unless that person’s state of jurisdiction does not require a permit to carry a concealed handgun
Majority Report
Summary
This amendment is the majority report and replaces the bill and does the following:
1. It removes the authority of municipal officers and counselors and assessors of plantations to issue concealed handgun permits and makes the municipality’s full-time chief of police the sole issuing authority for that municipality. If the municipality does not have a full-time chief of police, the Chief of the State Police is the issuing authority unless the municipality has an agreement with the county sheriff in which the municipality is located to serve as that municipality’s issuing authority;
2. It provides that a nonresident must have a valid concealed handgun permit in that person’s state of residence before that person is eligible for a Maine concealed handgun permit unless that person’s state of jurisdiction does not require a permit to carry a concealed handgun;
3. It provides that the State Police must conduct record checks on an applicant for a concealed handgun permit and provide that information to the issuing authority for consideration when processing the application. It expressly provides that unless the State Police is the issuing authority, it does not have the power to issue or prevent the issuance of a concealed handgun permit. Only the issuing authority can make that determination;
4. It requires the State Police to establish a confidential data base containing information about concealed handgun permit holders and applicants for concealed handgun permits. It provides that the data base must be accessible by law enforcement agencies or law enforcement officers at any time and that information about a permit
holder or an applicant must be purged from the data base within 5 years after the permit expires or after the period for an appeal on a denial or a revocation of a permit has run;
5. It authorizes the Attorney General to modify or reword the statutory application questions for a concealed handgun permit to improve readability and clarity as long as the subject matter of those questions is retained. It also requires the Attorney General to provide the proposed changes to the wording of the questions to the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety for review;
6. It increases the application fee for a concealed handgun permit for a resident from $35 to $52.50 and for a renew from $20 to $52.50 and for a nonresident from $60 to $120. It also extends the period a permit is valid from 4 years to 6 years;
7. It allows applicants to provide signatures on concealed handgun permit applications by an electron means approved by the State Police;
8. It allows the holder of a valid resident concealed handgun permit issued before January 1, 2016 to replace that permit with the new standard concealed handgun permit developed by the State Police on or after January 1, 2016 for a fee of $15;
9. It provides that by January 1, 2016, the State Police must develop and make available a uniform concealed handgun permit form, which must be used by all issuing authorities;
10. It provides that concealed handgun permit fees paid over to the Treasurer of State must be deposited in a special revenue account for the sole purpose of reimbursing the issuing authority for expenditures related to the development and the issuance of concealed handgun permits;
11. It provides that the Act does not apply to a valid concealed handgun permit issued before the effective date of this Act. An application for a concealed handgun permit or for renewal of a valid existing concealed handgun permit submitted on or after the effective date of this Act is subject to the provisions of this Act; and
12. It makes the changes in the amendment to the current types of concealed handgun model forms the Attorney General must develop effective on January 1, 2016 to coincide with the date the State Police must produce a uniform concealed handgun permit.
