AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills is joining the gun debate in Augusta after her office hosted a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning with the Maine Department of Public Safety and the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine.
The meeting did not last long, but the governor's staff said the three parties discussed gun legislation.
In 2019, the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine worked with Mills to institute a "yellow-flag" law, which can lead to someone's guns being taken away if they fail a mental health examination and a court case.
This year, several gun bills in the Legislature that would either strengthen or loosen Maine's current gun laws.
Some would grant more freedom to gun owners, such as LD 551, An Act to Strengthen Maine Citizens' Second Amendment Rights by Allowing the Discharge of Firearms on Private Property That Is Within 500 Feet of School Property in Certain Circumstances.
Others would limit the accessories one could use with their gun, like LD 1340, An Act to Prohibit the Sale or Possession of Rapid-fire Modification Devices.
The inspiration for this session's bills may come from the rise in gun violence nationwide, specifically the quadruple homicide in Bowdoin in April, according to Bates College professor of sociology and criminology Michael Rocque.
He said it's normal to see many bills related to guns after a spike in gun violence, and the closed-door meeting with Mills' office shows they want to come to some kind of solution.
"To me that says they are very serious, and that there aren't just a couple people being vocal," Rocque said.
David Trahan with the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine said in an interview recorded a day before the closed-door meeting the Legislature needs to abandon what he calls controversial bills about gun reform if they want to pass something meaningful.
"That issue has been in front of the Maine people. There is plenty of time to have more debates about controversial policies. I've asked the [House] Speaker and the governor and others to separate the two. They have plenty of time for other policies," Trahan said.
The governor's office declined to state when everyone can see a bill or bills that result from this closed-door meeting about gun reform.