2016 Maine Question 3 Explained

Question 3: Citizen Initiative
An Act To Require Background Checks for Gun Sales
Yes:366,770
No:394,157
Total:771,708

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.

The question was defeated, with 51.8% of voters opposed.

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]

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.[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. 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. State Senator Eric Brakey criticized the effort as a back-door attempt to establish a gun registry.

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.[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

Opponents

Polling

Date of opinion pollConducted bySample size
(likely voters)		YesNoUndecidedMargin of Error
October 20–25, 2016[24] University of New Hampshire76152%43%5%±3.6%
September 15–20, 2016[25] University of New Hampshire50961%33%6%±4.3%

Results

Question 3 Results[26]
CountyYesVotesNoVotes
Androscoggin43.6%2472656.3%31895
Aroostook34.8%12,38665.1%23,117
Cumberland64.4%112,53735.5%61,996
Franklin33.9%5,74166.1%11,169
Hancock46.3%15,13553.6%17,521
Kennebec41.4%27,85958.5%39,389
Knox52.5%12,37347.4%11,154
Lincoln44.8%9,85155.1%12,097
Oxford33.8%10,83566.1%21,165
Penobscot38.4%31,44361.5%50,432
Piscataquis26.8%2,52074.2%6,890
Sagadahoc49.7%11,00250.2%11,109
Somerset27.2%7,23372.7%19,282
Waldo39.8%9,19360.2%13,915
Washington32.1%5,37367.9%11,387
York56.2%65,38543.8%51,019
UOCAVA83.7%3,17816.3%620
Total48.2%366,77051.8%394,157

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www1.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming/citizensguide2016.pdf Maine Citizen’s Guide to the Referendum Election
  2. Web site: Maine Legislature passes bill that promotes background checks for private gun sales. The Bangor Daily News. 19 June 2013.
  3. Web site: Maine Senate rejects gun show background check bill. The Bangor Daily News. 30 May 2013.
  4. Web site: Gun purchase background check mandate question qualifies for Maine ballot. The Bangor Daily News. 18 February 2016.
  5. Web site: Group aims for 2016 Maine vote on gun sales background checks. The Bangor Daily News. 24 August 2015.
  6. Web site: Maine gun background check referendum supporters to submit signatures today. Mike Tipping. 2016-02-20. 2016-03-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20160309180158/http://thetippingpoint.bangordailynews.com/2016/01/19/state-politics/maine-gun-background-check-referendum-supporters-to-submit-signatures-today/. dead.
  7. Web site: Maine secretary of state revises wording of all five November ballot questions. Bangor Daily News . June 23, 2016 . June 23, 2016.
  8. Web site: Campaign to close gun background check loophole launched. The Bangor Daily News. 14 May 2016.
  9. Web site: As Gun Control Battle Rages, LePage Aims to Shoot Down Maine Ballot Measure. MPBN. June 23, 2016.
  10. Web site: Wardens express concern about gun background check measure. Portland Press Herald. October 11, 2016.
  11. Web site: Sportsmen step up to support extending firearms background checks. George's Outdoor News. 19 January 2016.
  12. Web site: Background checks not cure-all, but they'll make Maine safer. The Bangor Daily News. 22 October 2015.
  13. Web site: Background checks can't work if 40 percent of gun sales don't require them. The Bangor Daily News. September 14, 2016.
  14. Web site: Election 2016 EqualityMaine . 2016-10-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161004163304/http://equalitymaine.org/election2016 . 2016-10-04 . dead .
  15. Web site: Several Maine Sheriffs' oppose background checks for gun sales. WCSH-6. October 5, 2016.
  16. Web site: Say "yes" to background checks. 9 September 2016.
  17. Web site: Maine Women's Lobby endorses Question 3 to protect victims of domestic violence. 5 October 2016. Mainers for Responsible Gun Ownership. 28 December 2022.
  18. Web site: Our View: Vote 'yes' on Question 3 to close Maine gun sales loophole. 9 October 2016. Portland Press Herald. https://web.archive.org/web/20161010043643/http://www.pressherald.com/2016/10/09/our-view-vote-yes-on-question-3-to-close-maine-gun-sales-loophole/. October 10, 2016. live.
  19. Web site: Vote 'yes' on gun safety measures: Our view. USA Today. https://web.archive.org/web/20161012100009/https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/10/11/guns-background-checks-elections-nov-8-editorials-debates/91871110/. October 12, 2016. live.
  20. http://www.timesrecord.com/news/2016-11-04/Opinion/Times_Record_Endorses_Maine_Referendums Times Record endorses Maine referandums
  21. Web site: I have a problem with a New York billionaire intent on restricting our Second Amendment rights. 31 July 2016.
  22. Web site: Gun Owners of Maine - Home. gunownersofmaine.org. 28 December 2022.
  23. Web site: NRA official urges Mainers to reject background checks on gun sales. 24 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160826170300/http://www.centralmaine.com/2016/08/24/nra-official-urges-mainers-to-reject-background-checks-on-gun-sales/. August 26, 2016. live.
  24. Web site: Leads shrink for 4 of the 6 Maine ballot issues, poll indicates. 31 October 2016.
  25. Web site: Most Mainers favor background checks on gun sales, poll shows. 27 September 2016.
  26. Web site: Tabulations for Elections held in 2016. Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions. Maine Department of the Secretary of State. 20 March 2018.

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