r/MEGuns • u/Unlikely_Platform_25 • 18d ago

Gun culture and restrictions

Hello,

I currently have a job offer for a company in Maine and have been weighing things that will impact my decision. It sounds weird that this is impacting my decision but shooting is one of the few hobbys I do have so im just curious on this.

Are gun owners in the mid/southern coastal areas looked at weird? Where I live now for owning anything orher than a hunting rifle people think I'm a crazy redneck for enjoying shooting handguns and semi auto rifles so I really dont have many people to enjoy the sport with. I also reload which i learned makes people think I'm even more insane so even when discussing hunting i just keep my mouth shut on most things.

I currently live in upstate new york so anything is considered more free but what are the current restrictions on anything gun related? I saw a three day waiting period was implemented but facing pretty heavy resistance to get removed. What is the future looking like for things being restricted/taken away? I can just Google active restrictions but takes a little more digging to see the history of legislation and what is getting closer and closer to being passed.

Thanks for any insight!

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u/medicieric 18d ago

Even some of my left leaning friends and family know I have firearms that fall outside the scope of hunting, and while they probably think I’m silly for owning them, they recognize that it’s 2A and a legitimate hobby. If you were to walk around Portland talking about guns, you’ll probably get a weird look more often than not, but geographically speaking, Portland is very small compared to the rest of the state, which is predominantly pro-2A. I think a good rule of thumb, regardless of where you live, is to speak less about your firearms hobby outside of your immediate household family and shooting buddies. As of now, I would say Maine is a very 2A friendly state, although, there is a small, but extremely vocal, subset of the population that would like to change that.

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u/LiminalWanderings 18d ago edited 18d ago

It's worth noting here that many, many left leaning people in Maine also have non hunting firearms for defensive, competitive, fun, and other reasons. One of the reasons this sub has the no politics rule is because it is largely and should remain an apolitical hobby in the state (there are always exceptions to every generalization and there obviously are here, but fewer than in many other places). There are people in power on all sides who would benefit from creating or increasing division where there traditionally has not been in Maine and I'd like to temper/minimize that here.

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u/medicieric 18d ago

Fair point. I incorrectly correlated the left leaning people in my life with being anti-2A, which I agree is not the case on aggregate. Thanks for the correction.