Issuing final say on gun reforms, Mills OKs waiting period, vetoes bump stock bill

Gov. Janet Mills speaks at an Oct. 26 press conference about the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. (Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)

Gov. Janet Mills on Monday gave final approval to the gun safety measures that would become law after the state’s worst mass shooting. Of the three reforms that passed the Maine Legislature, only two will become law. 

On Monday, Mills said she is allowing a 72-hour waiting period for certain gun purchases to become law without her signature; however, she vetoed a bill that would change the definition of machine gun to limit their use and required that firearms used in a crime would have to be destroyed. The bill that was vetoed, LD 2086, also could have banned conversion devices, like bump stocks, that make semi-automatic weapons operate like machine guns. 

This comes after Mills signed the public safety legislation she proposed to better address mental health and keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people into law on Thursday, one day after the six month anniversary of the Oct. 25 Lewiston shooting. 

“Maine has made significant progress on gun safety reforms this year,” said Nacole Palmer, the executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, in a news release Monday. “We are not helpless to prevent gun violence, and our coalition will continue to work to make our communities safer.”

In her veto message for LD 2086, Mills said the bill may unintentionally ban weapons that responsible gun owners use for hunting or target shooting. While Mills said she agrees that semi-automatic firearms converted into the functional equivalent of a machine gun should be restricted, she said she is concerned that certain language in the bill could have a “risk for unintended consequences.”

Mills also said in her message that such legislation “should only be developed in a deliberate, inclusive, and clear manner for both gun safety advocates and those concerned with protecting lawful access to firearms.”

Palmer said the gun safety group disagrees with the veto, adding that “there’s no excuse to allow everyday guns to mimic machine guns.”

Mills ‘deeply conflict’ on waiting period

In addition to signing her bill, LD 2224, which modifies the state’s existing yellow flag law, Mills opted to allow the waiting period bill to become law without her signature on the legislation. 

In a statement released Monday, Mills said she spent the 10 days she is allotted to act on bills talking with people both for and against the bill and said she is “deeply conflicted.” She said that she sees merit in the argument that the bill could be a tool to prevent suicides by providing a cooling-off period for people in crisis who may buy a gun impulsively, but she said she also sees how the policy could be undue burden on law-abiding citizens and may be constitutionally questionable. 

Ultimately, she said she’s allowing the waiting period bill to become law with some caveats.

“In carefully considering all the arguments, I have decided to allow this bill to become law,” Mills said. “I do so, however, with some caveats and concerns and with the hope that it can be implemented to accomplish its intended goal of preventing suicide by firearm without overburdening our outdoor sports economy and the rights of responsible gun owners and dealers to engage in lawful and constitutionally protected activities.”

Mills is asking the Commissioner of Public Safety and the Attorney General to monitor constitutional challenges in other states with similar laws to see how they are playing out. She’s also asking them to provide written guidance to law enforcement and the public about how the new law affects the temporary transfer of firearms and the ability to obtain a firearm for personal protection.

The bill that received Mills’ full backing, LD 2224, takes a multipronged approach to strengthening public safety and mental health. The new law expands background checks to advertised sales and modifies the state’s existing yellow flag law by allowing police to get protective custody warrants to use at their discretion to take dangerous people into custody and remove their weapons. 

The law also establishes a statewide network of crisis receiving centers to help someone in crisis receive prompt care and creates a way to better gather data about violence-related injuries and deaths to help identify patterns. 

“The measures in this law are not extreme or unusual, or a cookie cutter version of another’s state’s laws,” Mills said. “They are practical, common-sense measures that are Maine-made and true to our culture and our longstanding traditions while meeting today’s needs.”

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