Maine to go to Constitutional Carry?

Rick emails to point out more progress:

AUGUSTA, Maine — Sen. Eric Brakey, an Auburn Republican serving his first term in the Legislature, is bullish about rolling back restrictions on carrying concealed handguns in Maine, despite several similar efforts that failed in recent years.

His bill, LD 652, would make Maine the fifth state to establish “constitutional carry” — a universal right of all legal firearm owners to carry concealed handguns on their person or in their vehicles. The bill has a whopping 96 co-sponsors, more than half the state Legislature, including leaders from both parties.

“We have a lot of support,” Brakey, the bill’s sponsor, said Friday. “A majority in the House has signed on as co-sponsors and a near-majority in the Senate. We have a very strong coalition.”

Maine law allows legal gun owners to apply to their local police chief or to the state for a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The process involves a fee, a mandatory gun safety course and a finding that the applicant is of “good moral character,” which mostly means being free of serious criminal charges or convictions.

But Brakey and others say the law is unnecessary. Maine already allows for the open carrying of handguns without any rules other than that the person displaying the weapon is legally entitled to own it. They ask: Why should such a citizen be deemed a criminal simply for putting on a coat?

Onward!