Maine Question 3, 2016

Results
Question 3: Citizen Initiative
	An Act To Require Background Checks for Gun Sales

Last updated April 21, 2019

Maine Question 3, formally An Act to Require Background Checks for Gun Sales,^[1] was a citizen-initiated referendum question that appeared on the Maine November 8, 2016 statewide ballot. It sought to require a background check for virtually all gun transfers in Maine, with some exceptions. As the Maine Legislature and Governor Paul LePage declined to enact the proposal as written, it appeared on the ballot along with elections for President of the United States, Maine's two United States House seats, the Maine Legislature, other statewide ballot questions, and various local elections.

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Maine is the 12th smallest by area, the 9th least populous, and the 38th most densely populated of the 50 U.S. states. It is bordered by New Hampshire to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and northwest respectively. Maine is the easternmost state in the contiguous United States, and the northernmost state east of the Great Lakes. It is known for its jagged, rocky coastline; low, rolling mountains; heavily forested interior; and picturesque waterways, as well as its seafood cuisine, especially lobster and clams. There is a humid continental climate throughout most of the state, including in coastal areas such as its most populous city of Portland. The capital is Augusta.

Background

Efforts to expand background checks of gun buyers have not succeeded at the Maine State House. In 2013, an effort to create a civil penalty of someone not conducting a background check on a buyer later found to not be allowed to possess a gun passed the Maine Legislature, but was vetoed by Governor Paul LePage, a strong gun rights supporter. An outright requirement to conduct background checks on gun buyers in private sales failed to pass the Legislature that same year.^[2]^[3]

The Maine State House in Augusta, Maine is the state capitol of the State of Maine. The building was completed in 1832, one year after Augusta became the capital of Maine. Built using Maine granite, the State House was based on the design of the Massachusetts State House.

The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Augusta, where it has met since 1832.

The Governor of Maine is the chief executive of the State of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the Governor of Massachusetts was chief executive.

On August 24, 2015, the group Maine Moms Demand Action (MMDA) filed paperwork with the Maine Secretary of State's office to launch a petition drive to require virtually all gun sales to have a background check of the buyer conducted by a licensed gun dealer. The proposal includes exceptions for transfers between family members, temporary loans of firearms while hunting or sport shooting, an emergency need for self-defense, and other limited exceptions.^[4]^[5]

MMDA submitted the 84,600 signatures they gathered on January 19, 2016.^[4]^[6] The Secretary of State's office announced on February 18 that 65,821 signatures were validated, well over the 61,123 required to place a question on the ballot.^[4] The question will appear on the ballot as "Do you want to require background checks prior to the sale or transfer of firearms between individuals not licensed as firearms dealers, with failure to do so punishable by law, and with some exceptions for family members, hunting, self-defense, lawful competitions, and shooting range activity?"^[7]

Campaign

Gun rights supporters criticized the proposal. The Sportsman's Alliance of Maine's executive director, David Trahan, stated that while background checks sound good in theory, they are difficult to implement and enforce, which is why there has been no national universal background check system. He also criticized the potential involvement of Michael Bloomberg and other out-of-state gun control groups spending large amounts of money in Maine.^[5] State Senator Eric Brakey criticized the effort as a back-door attempt to establish a gun registry.^[5]

A. David Trahan is an American politician, logger, and lobbyist. Trahan was a Republican State Senator from Maine's 20th District, representing much of Lincoln County, including his residence in Waldoboro. He graduated from the University of Maine at Augusta. He served in the Maine House of Representatives from 1998 to 2006.

Michael Rubens Bloomberg KBE is an American businessman, politician, author, and philanthropist. As of April 2019, his net worth was estimated at $60.7 billion, making him the 8th-richest person in the United States and the 9th richest person in the world. He has joined The Giving Pledge, whereby billionaires pledge to give away at least half of their wealth. To date, Bloomberg has given away $8.2 billion, including his November 2018 $1.8 billion gift to Johns Hopkins University for student aid — the largest private donation ever made to a higher education institution.

Eric Brakey is an American politician from Maine.

Supporters officially launched their campaign on May 14, 2016, calling themselves Mainers for Responsible Gun Ownership. The group includes law enforcement officials, gun violence survivors, sportsmen, gun owners and gun violence prevention advocates. They state that background checks will close a loophole in existing gun laws which allow criminals, domestic abusers, and the mentally ill to obtain guns without a background check by not going to a licensed dealer. They also claim that states with expansive background checks experience lower rates of women being shot to death by their intimate partners, as well as lower rates of police officers being killed by handguns.^[5]^[8]

Governor Paul LePage, in expressing opposition to the referendum, called it unconstitutional. Referendum supporters cite a 2007 decision written by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stating that background checks are constitutional.^[9]

The Maine Warden Service, while not officially opposing the referendum, expressed concern that its passage "could make criminals out of responsible firearm owners" and that it would be difficult to enforce.^[10]

Notable endorsements

Supporters

Maine Moms Demand Action^[4]
Sean Geagan, chief, Bucksport Police Department ^[5]
Bucky Owen, former commissioner, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife^[11]
Bill Vail, former commissioner, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife^[11]
Michael Gahagan, chief, Caribou Police Department^[12]
Bangor Daily News ^[13]
Equality Maine^[14]
Maine Chiefs of Police Association^[15]
Ellsworth American^[16]
Maine Women's Lobby^[17]
MaineToday Media newspapers; Portland Press Herald , Kennebec Journal , Morning Sentinel ^[18]
USA Today ^[19]
The Times Record , newspaper of Brunswick ^[20]

Opponents

Eric Brakey, Republican State Senator^[5]
Darrell Crandall, Aroostook County Sheriff^[15]
Barry Curtis, Washington County Sheriff^[15]
Donna Dennison, Knox County Sheriff^[15]
Wayne Gallant, Oxford County Sheriff^[15]
John Goggin, Piscataquis County Sheriff^[15]
Scott Kane, Hancock County Sheriff^[15]
William King, York County Sheriff^[15]
Dale Lancaster, Somerset County Sheriff^[15]
Paul LePage, Governor of Maine ^[9]
Jeff McCabe, Majority Leader of the Maine House of Representatives ^[21]
Troy Morton, Penobscot County Sheriff^[15]
Scott Nichols, Franklin County Sheriff^[15]
Eric Samson, Androscoggin County Sheriff^[15]
Jeffery Trafton, Waldo County Sheriff^[15]
Gun Owners of Maine^[22]
Sportsmen's Alliance of Maine^[5]
National Rifle Association ^[23]

Polling

Date of opinion poll	Conducted by	Sample size (likely voters)	Yes	No	Undecided	Margin of Error
October 20–25, 2016^[24]	University of New Hampshire	761	52%	43%	5%	±3.6%
September 15–20, 2016^[25]	University of New Hampshire	509	61%	33%	6%	±4.3%

Results

Question 3 Results^[26]
County	Yes	Votes	No	Votes
Androscoggin	43.6%	24726	56.3%	31895
Aroostook	34.8%	12,386	65.1%	23,117
Cumberland	64.4%	112,537	35.5%	61,996
Franklin	33.9%	5,741	66.1%	11,169
Hancock	46.3%	15,135	53.6%	17,521
Kennebec	41.4%	27,859	58.5%	39,389
Knox	52.5%	12,373	47.4%	11,154
Lincoln	44.8%	9,851	55.1%	12,097
Oxford	33.8%	10,835	66.1%	21,165
Penobscot	38.4%	31,443	61.5%	50,432
Piscataquis	26.8%	2,520	74.2%	6,890
Sagadahoc	49.7%	11,002	50.2%	11,109
Somerset	27.2%	7,233	72.7%	19,282
Waldo	39.8%	9,193	60.2%	13,915
Washington	32.1%	5,373	67.9%	11,387
York	56.2%	65,385	43.8%	51,019
UOCAVA	83.7%	3,178	16.3%	620
Total	48.2%	366,770	51.8%	394,157

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References

↑ https://www1.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming/citizensguide2016.pdf
↑ "Maine Legislature passes bill that promotes background checks for private gun sales". The Bangor Daily News.
↑ "Maine Senate rejects gun show background check bill". The Bangor Daily News.
1 2 3 4 "Gun purchase background check mandate question qualifies for Maine ballot". The Bangor Daily News.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Group aims for 2016 Maine vote on gun sales background checks". The Bangor Daily News.
↑ "Maine gun background check referendum supporters to submit signatures today". Mike Tipping.
↑ "Maine secretary of state revises wording of all five November ballot questions". Bangor Daily News. June 23, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
↑ "Campaign to close gun background check loophole launched". The Bangor Daily News.
1 2 "As Gun Control Battle Rages, LePage Aims to Shoot Down Maine Ballot Measure". MPBN . June 23, 2016.
↑ "Wardens express concern about gun background check measure". Portland Press Herald . October 11, 2016.
1 2 "Sportsmen step up to support extending firearms background checks". George's Outdoor News.
↑ "Background checks not cure-all, but they'll make Maine safer". The Bangor Daily News.
↑ "Background checks can't work if 40 percent of gun sales don't require them". The Bangor Daily News. September 14, 2016.
↑ http://equalitymaine.org/election2016
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Several Maine Sheriffs' oppose background checks for gun sales". WCSH-6. October 5, 2016.
↑ http://www.ellsworthamerican.com/opinions/editorials/say-yes-background-checks/
↑ http://responsiblemaine.org/maine-womens-lobby-endorses-question-3-protect-victims-domestic-violence/
↑ http://www.pressherald.com/2016/10/09/our-view-vote-yes-on-question-3-to-close-maine-gun-sales-loophole/
↑ https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/10/11/guns-background-checks-elections-nov-8-editorials-debates/91871110/
↑ http://www.timesrecord.com/news/2016-11-04/Opinion/Times_Record_Endorses_Maine_Referendums
↑ http://bangordailynews.com/2016/07/31/opinion/contributors/i-have-a-problem-with-a-new-york-billionaire-intent-on-restricting-our-second-amendment-rights/
↑ "Gun Owners of Maine - Home".
↑ http://www.centralmaine.com/2016/08/24/nra-official-urges-mainers-to-reject-background-checks-on-gun-sales/
↑ http://www.pressherald.com/2016/10/31/margins-of-support-shrink-for-3-of-the-6-maine-ballot-issues-poll-indicates/
↑ http://www.centralmaine.com/2016/09/27/most-mainers-favor-background-checks-on-gun-sales/
↑ "Tabulations for Elections held in 2016". Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions. Maine Department of the Secretary of State. Retrieved 20 March 2018.

External links

Mainers for Responsible Gun Ownership, supporters of the referendum
Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, a group opposed to the referendum

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[1] ttps://www1.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming/citizensguide2016.pdf

[2] "Maine Legislature passes bill that promotes background checks for private gun sales". The Bangor Daily News.

[3] "Maine Senate rejects gun show background check bill". The Bangor Daily News.

[ballot-4] 1 2 3 4 "Gun purchase background check mandate question qualifies for Maine ballot". The Bangor Daily News.

[funding-5] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Group aims for 2016 Maine vote on gun sales background checks". The Bangor Daily News.

[6] "Maine gun background check referendum supporters to submit signatures today". Mike Tipping.

[7] "Maine secretary of state revises wording of all five November ballot questions". Bangor Daily News. June 23, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.

[8] "Campaign to close gun background check loophole launched". The Bangor Daily News.

[lepage-9] 1 2 "As Gun Control Battle Rages, LePage Aims to Shoot Down Maine Ballot Measure". MPBN . June 23, 2016.

[10] "Wardens express concern about gun background check measure". Portland Press Herald . October 11, 2016.

[bangordailynews.com-11] 1 2 "Sportsmen step up to support extending firearms background checks". George's Outdoor News.

[12] "Background checks not cure-all, but they'll make Maine safer". The Bangor Daily News.

[13] "Background checks can't work if 40 percent of gun sales don't require them". The Bangor Daily News. September 14, 2016.

[14] ttp://equalitymaine.org/election2016

[sheriff-15] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Several Maine Sheriffs' oppose background checks for gun sales". WCSH-6. October 5, 2016.

[16] ttp://www.ellsworthamerican.com/opinions/editorials/say-yes-background-checks/

[17] ttp://responsiblemaine.org/maine-womens-lobby-endorses-question-3-protect-victims-domestic-violence/

[18] ttp://www.pressherald.com/2016/10/09/our-view-vote-yes-on-question-3-to-close-maine-gun-sales-loophole/

[19] ttps://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/10/11/guns-background-checks-elections-nov-8-editorials-debates/91871110/

[20] ttp://www.timesrecord.com/news/2016-11-04/Opinion/Times_Record_Endorses_Maine_Referendums

[21] ttp://bangordailynews.com/2016/07/31/opinion/contributors/i-have-a-problem-with-a-new-york-billionaire-intent-on-restricting-our-second-amendment-rights/

[22] "Gun Owners of Maine - Home".

[23] ttp://www.centralmaine.com/2016/08/24/nra-official-urges-mainers-to-reject-background-checks-on-gun-sales/

[24] ttp://www.pressherald.com/2016/10/31/margins-of-support-shrink-for-3-of-the-6-maine-ballot-issues-poll-indicates/

[25] ttp://www.centralmaine.com/2016/09/27/most-mainers-favor-background-checks-on-gun-sales/

[Certified_results-26] "Tabulations for Elections held in 2016". Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions. Maine Department of the Secretary of State. Retrieved 20 March 2018.