Maine tries to close "Loophole" ----> Fails miserably

[ericire12]

http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/6200525.html

AUGUSTA -- A gun control bill supported by the father of one of the students killed at Columbine High School was rejected by a legislative committee Monday in favor of a voluntary measure.

The Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted down a bill sponsored by Rep. Anna Blodgett, D-Augusta, that would have required unlicensed and private gun dealers to perform instant background checks at gun shows.

"I think I did as much as anybody could do for that bill," Blodgett said.

Last week, Tom Mauser -- whose son, Daniel, was one of 15 people killed in 1999 at the Colorado high school -- traveled to Maine to urge legislators to support the bill.

Blodgett said that, despite weeks of hard work, the bill faced tough opposition from gun rights groups. "This is not against anybody except the people who shouldn't own the guns," she said.

The committee rejected Blodgett's bill and two other gun-related bills.

House Committee Chairwoman Rep. Anne Haskell, D-Portland, said the committee instead supported a resolve to encourage private gun sellers to work with federally-licensed gun dealers who have access to the national background check system.

She said businesses such as Kittery Trading Post will, for a fee, conduct a background check for private sellers before a transaction takes place.

The bill asks the state Department of Public Safety to work with the U.S. Attorneys Office to add information to their safe gun sellers kit and to post information on a Web site listing sellers who are willing to run background checks for others, Haskell said.

She said it makes more sense to encourage sellers to perform the background checks beforehand, rather than put laws in place to punish them after something happens.

"The crooks won't do it anyhow," she said.