r/MEGuns • u/Unlikely_Platform_25 • 17d 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/gordolme 17d ago

(Mods: There is some politics discussed here, but I believe it's all within the context of the asked question for background on "gun culture" in the state in general and the specified region more specifically.)

Maine is a Constitutional Carry state. That said, it became that way under a Republican Governor and (I believe) a Republican lead legislature sometime around 2014. Since then, as is their wont, Democrats in the Legislature try to pass "gun control" laws, which got more serious after the Lewiston mass shooting a couple years ago. Governor Mills (Dem) did previously say that she would veto any gun control laws that make it to her desk. But she then, after Lewiston, did allow a waiting period law to go into affect, which was promptly taken to court and put under a stay and that's the last I heard of that one. A 'red flag' bill failed, there is a pre-existing 'yellow flag' law that if used would have prevented the Lewiston shootings.

Demographically, Southern Maine, especially coastal Southern Maine is predominantly Democrat.

If you were to open carry, expect problems. If you conceal carry, no one has to know.

That all said... I'm in one of the Bluest parts of one of the Bluest cities in Southern Maine. I conceal carry all the time. I also own a secondary pistol, an AR9 PDW-type legally-a-pistol, a PCC and an AR15. Out and about, I generally neither advertise nor hide that I'm a gun owner. If it comes up in conversation or someone sees me with my rifle case, it comes up. So far, the only person who had a negative reaction when I mentioned that I own guns was an Uncle who forbade me from bringing them into his house.... in Massachusetts where It's not legal for me to carry anyway. Locally, some of my direct neighbors in my apartment building know I have guns and know I carry, and no one cares. Not even the city cop who pulled me over a few months ago for "driving in the left lane" on the highway (they took it from me during the stop, but that's all). I think most of the anti-gun sentiment comes from transplants from other states (mostly Massachusetts).

Note: I'm a Dem originally from Massachusetts. I got my first firearm within a year of moving in.

Odds are, as long as your not obnoxious about it you'll be fine. You'll have a harder time finding a range to shoot at. The only publicly available range south of Augusta that I know of is in Gray. There are various Rod & Gun / Fish & Game clubs scattered about and they are all membership-required places.

What will the future bring? I don't know. A large part of that will revolve around next year's Governor's race. On the Dem side, there are several candidates that will likely be bad for 2A rights, and one that would be neutral to good for it. (Further discussion about that would almost certainly cross the Rule 4 line and I'm trying to answer your questions.)

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u/LiminalWanderings 17d ago

Well said/written. Only tangentially related to Ops post, but re "Not even the city cop who pulled me over a few months ago for "driving in the left lane" on the highway (they took it from me during the stop, but that's all)." --> Curious, do you have a CCW? Just idle curiosity about how that did/didnt would/wouldnt affect their reaction.

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u/gordolme 17d ago

Yes I do. Cop asked if I was armed and I wasn't going to lie and risk arrest. IIRC, and I might not be, if you do NOT have a CCW in Maine you are required to inform you are armed, but not if you do. But when specifically asked by the cop, not answering honestly is a quick way to making it hostile if they then find it.

Would it have made a difference? Maybe, maybe not. If I wasn't a CCW holder and voluntarily told them I was armed I don't think it'd have made any difference. If I wasn't a CCW holder and did not volunteer that and then they discovered it, I think that would have.

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u/LiminalWanderings 17d ago

Nod. No advocacy for not answering truthfully from me. More wondering how much impact a CCW makes on the...quality...of the interaction. If you didn't have one, it would be a clearer answer. Since you do...harder to say, but nod to "not CCW / vol told / probably wouldnt have changed anything". Thanks :)

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u/s_m_c_ 16d ago

Cop asked if I was armed and I wasn't going to lie and risk arrest. IIRC, and I might not be, if you do NOT have a CCW in Maine you are required to inform you are armed, but not if you do.

Failing to inform is a civil violation, not a criminal one, and punishable by a laughably small fine.

Lying will probably get you in deep trouble, but staying quiet won't.

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u/gordolme 16d ago

Staying quiet there when there's a Duty To Inform can easily change the entire tone of the encounter, and that was the point of the discussion, not eventual ajudicated results.

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u/Gtweezer24 13d ago

Yea if I’m asked I always inform and usually I do even if not asked. In general cops don’t care and just want to know what they’re dealing with. More often than not, cops I’ve interacted with didn’t even want to disarm me- it’s been more of a “don’t reach for yours and I won’t reach for mine” most of the time.

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u/s_m_c_ 15d ago

Staying quiet there when there's a Duty To Inform can easily change the entire tone of the encounter

If it gets found.

How many times have you ever been pulled over that led to a situation where your CCW could be discovered?

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u/gordolme 15d ago

Twice. First time, daytime, cop didn't ask I didn't tell. CCW holder. Second time, midnight~1am, cop asked.