On Tuesday, Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck and other members of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association publicly opposed legislation that would eliminate permit requirements for concealed carrying of firearms in Maine, arguing the bill now before a legislative committee would threaten public safety.
The sponsor of the bill, in an interview, said the legislation would not endanger the public, but rather would make it easier for law enforcement officers to do their jobs while guarding the rights of law-abiding citizens.
LD 660, An Act to Enhance Self-Defense by Removing Restrictions on the Carrying and Use of Weapons, among its provisions, "removes the prohibition on concealing a dangerous weapon; and ... removes exceptions to the law prohibiting the carrying of a concealed dangerous weapon," according to its legislative summary.
On Feb. 26, the bill was referred to the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee in the Maine Legislature.
Rep. Aaron Libby, R-North Waterboro, sponsor of LD 660, said the bill underwent six hours of public hearing last month, and not one person opposed the legislation.
But Sauschuck, flanked by his peers in the association of police chiefs, told media gathered for a press conference Tuesday, "We've talked to legislators recently that are concerned that this may have some kind of legs in the State House."
Currently, Maine's concealed carry permitting process requires a minimum age, no prior felony convictions and no recent drug convictions or commitments for mental health treatment as well as completion of handgun safety training, the association noted. These requirements would be eliminated by LD 660, the association stated.
Speaking at the Portland Police Department, Sauschuck said, "This is an issue that the Maine Chiefs of Police Association has voted on and this is an issue that these police chiefs and representatives feel is important enough that they wanted to be here this morning with one voice and speak out against LD 660."
The legislation was "built to eliminate this permitting process, to allow for what is commonly referred to nationally as a constitutional carry scenario, which means that any citizen would be able to carry a weapon concealed," Sauschuck said.
"The permit is an effective tool to enhance public safety," he said.
On the same morning as the press conference, the Maine Chiefs of Police Association scheduled concealed handgun permits training at Cape Elizabeth Fire Department. Sauschuck said the existing law's training requirements improve public safety.
"The process that we currently have in place allows us to run a background check on an applicant, that background check would look at criminal history, and it would also look at mental health commitments, so in the state of Maine, primarily at Riverview and Spring Harbor, and it also requires training, an individual would be required to take before an application process," Sauschuck said.
"To eliminate that process in general is a disservice to the citizens of the state of Maine and certainly to the safety of our law enforcement officers who are out on the street," he said, and urged citizens to call their legislators and express their views.
South Portland Police Chief Ed Googins estimated his department receives half a dozen applications or renewal requests a week.
"In just the past few months, I've denied a dozen concealed weapons permit applications, and we have 450 in our community, it's a very thorough process, and to just throw that out the door just does not make sense," Googins said.
But Libby said the main beneficiaries of his bill would be the Maine State Police. Maine State Police's Gaming and Weapons Unit provides concealed handgun permits for approximately 360 municipalities in Maine as well as all out of state permits, according to the agency's website. Approximately 6,000 permits are processed per year by this unit, the agency reports.
"It's the State Police that does the majority of the applications," Libby said.
"I understand the fears at first, but when people really look at the bill it makes common sense, this has no potential of increasing the officer's risk because they have to walk up to the cars all the time," and people inside those cars may or may not have a concealed carry permit, Libby said. "None of that is known until they interact with the person anyway. ... The officer doesn't know until he gets up and starts interacting with the person anyways."
Libby added, "The bill has nothing to do with who carries a gun, this doesn't change or add or decrease who can (carry). ... It has nothing to do with who carries, it's how it's carried."
The state's open carry law allows a person to carry a gun with no background checks or safety courses if they carry the weapon openly. Libby said, "Open carry allows unprohibited carrying of firearms in the open. As soon as you put a jacket on and it goes over your hip, you're now a criminal."
In Portland, police have responded to calls about people openly carrying firearms. Sauschuck mentioned the open carry law during Tuesday's press conference, saying, "There are a multitude of issues around open carry vs. concealed carry, and in my instance, open carry is a terrible idea, it's something that negatively impacts the community, the citizens of Portland and our officers."
With concealed carry regulations, Libby said police could be unburdened of the paperwork requirements of the permit law.
"That money could be used to actually catch criminals, not to slow down the process for law-abiding citizens," he said.
"While I can appreciate an individual representative's attempt at making our lives easier, to me this isn't a question of resource allocation, because we do spend a lot of time and energy around this permitting process, it's about public safety," Sauschuck said.
"If you're a valid permit-holding individual," Sauschuck said, "and we have contact with you, we know the process that has taken place, that application has been vetted, you are not a criminal in possession of that, and we have an opportunity to follow through with that information. What we're saying with LD 660, is if you're a drug dealer, come into the state of Maine and carry concealed, and there's no ramifications against that."
Libby said his bill does not eliminate the actual concealed weapons permit because there are gun owners who will still want a permit if they want to use it for reciprocity when traveling to other states. Rather, the legislation, he said, would eliminate permit requirements for concealed carrying of firearms so the general public could choose not to apply for a permit.
"This actually is a benefit to all, the Maine resident, the law abiding citizen, can have possession of a gun and not be questioned to carry," he said.
Alaska, Wyoming, Arizona and Vermont all have similar legislation, and in April, Arkansas just passed a similar bill, Libby said.
"It's the second time I've put this bill in, and this bill on the surface looks extreme and sounds extreme but if you look at it it's very common sense and it can actually increase the crime fighting of the officers because they can concentrate on real criminals," Libby said, adding, "A criminal does not go and get a concealed weapons permit."
The bill received a 7-6 "ought not to pass" vote, Libby said, but he said he is still waiting to hear about committee action, and noted that the minority vote of support was bipartisan. The vote could "flip" if the measure is brought to the full legislative body, Libby said.
Most fundamentally, Libby said the bill would rectify a constitutional issue.
"I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and I believe our current law is in violation of the Maine Constitution," he said.
Article I, Section 16, of the Maine Constitution reads: "Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms and this right shall never be questioned."
Sauschuck said court cases have legitimized reasonable limits on Second Amendment rights.
"Point blank this is a bad piece of legislation and one I do not support," he said.

The Portland City Council on Monday adopted two new rules that address artists setting up on the city streets but removed a controversial registry provision.
The two provisions adopted by the council — by a 7-0 vote — will prohibit artists from setting up within a section of Bell Buoy Park that's needed to access the fire boat and another preventing artists from displays that could constitute a public safety hazard. While approving those two ordinance changes, the council dropped language that would have created a registry for street artists — a measure that was decried as an infringement on First Amendment rights during the committee review process.
The spurned registry would have required artists who wished to sell their works on the streets to register with the city clerk at no charge.
Councilor Ed Suslovic proposed the amendment to ditch the registry provision and it passed by a 5-2 vote.
"I strongly support having a registry," said Councilor Jill Duson. She said she thought it was a simple, reasonable thing to ask of street artists.
Duson said she didn't think that having a voluntary registry put any undue burden on artists and that there ought to be a mechanism for the city to oversee the conduct of commerce in Portland.
The proposed rules related to street artists and vendors were based on the recommendations made by a task force that looked at ways to ease pedestrian congestion in the downtown that was attributed to displays blocking the sidewalks.
The task force recommended the council's Public Safety, Health and Human Services Committee forward new rules that included creating a registry; prohibiting artists from setting up in Bell Buoy Park; preventing people from displaying and selling their work on a sidewalk that is less than eight feet wide; and not allowing them to set up within 10 feet of an existing open retail storefront.
The committee only moved forward on the registry, cordoning off a portion of Bell Buoy Park and defining the public safety hazard standard.
Before ceasing discussion on the street artists item, Councilor Nick Mavodones asked what enforcement strategy is planned to help deal with complaints about street artists forcing pedestrians to walk into the streets because the sidewalks are blocked.
City Manager Mark Rees said while the city doesn't have the resources to have code enforcement officers on the streets seven days a week, the city plans to do what they can to address those issues.
"From my perspective, there needs to be greater enforcement on a continued basis," Mavodones said.

The former Nathan Clifford School at 180 Falmouth St., which the city is trying to repurpose following its closure, was the target of a break-in this week, resulting in three arrests, the Portland Police Department reported.
An alarm went off at 1:16 a.m. Tuesday, officers responded and they found that the main rear entrance door had been damaged and entry had been made, according to Portland Police Lt. James Swett.
Three subjects were taken into custody for trespassing in the city building. One was a male juvenile, 17, from Portland; and the two others were adults, Daniel Harkness, 24, and Kaitlen MacDonald, 24, both also from the Portland area, Swett said. All three were charged with criminal trespassing and criminal mischief, misdemeanor-level crimes, Swett said.
On Monday, the city of Portland announced that it is seeking development teams to tackle the re-use and redevelopment of the Nathan Clifford School. The school building has been vacant since it was declared surplus by the school department and was replaced by the new Ocean Avenue Elementary School. During the fall of 2012, the city appointed a citizen task force to recommend potential uses as well as outline a process for finding new owners for the property.
Police had had past contacts with at least one of the suspects, Swett said.
"They offered no resistance once confronted by police," he said.
They pulled metal mesh back from glass and pushed a window in on the rear door, Swett said.
"They definitely put some effort into getting in," he said.
A Portland city representative came to take control of the building.
Although the old Nathan Clifford School has sat vacant for months, Swett said police do not have a record of problems at the building.
"It's not an area where we've specifically had any ongoing issues," he said.
The three-story brick building is named after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Nathan Clifford and first opened April 1, 1909, according to the city. Located in the Oakdale Neighborhood, Swett said the building is in decent condition, "not in disrepair," and in a "fairly well lit neighborhood," which are typically not conditions that attract vandals.

When it comes to tar sands, the Portland City Council is more concerned than opposed.
The council voted 7-2 Monday night to support a resolution that expresses concerns about tar sands transmission through Maine but declined to state opposition due to the volume of conflicting information that was heard during more than two hours of public testimony.
The resolution states that the council is concerned about the transmission of tar sands in order to protect Portland's natural resources; calls on the Maine Legislature and federal government to better analyze the impact of tar sands being transmitted through Maine; and supports the creation of federal guidelines for tracking the chemical composition of the fuel being transmitted through Maine. The council based its concern on the potential negative impact that could be posed to Sebago Lake, Casco Bay and other waterways should there be a spill.
The original language in the resolution sought to document the council's opposition to tar sands transmission through Maine but members of the council felt they lacked definite information to make that commitment.
"For me, it's important we have the best available data. We have conflicting data," said Councilor Nick Mavodones.
Mavodones said after doing some research and listening to public testimony, he's sure that he's concerned but not necessarily opposed. He said he'd feel better about coming out in opposition to tar sands if there was an objective analysis on tar sands.
Councilor Ed Suslovic said he felt it was premature to come out in opposition since agencies that are charged with studying tar sands have yet to make their final reports.
"I am opposed to tar sands," said Mayor Michael Brennan.
The resolution before the council is simple, Brennan said, and a number of other towns have already come out in opposition to tar sands. He said he doesn't see how the council can say they don't understand the science, biology and data involved to the point that they won't express opposition.
"I don't lack that clarity," he said.
Councilor Cheryl Leeman said she has absolutely no clarity on the issue of tar sands even after doing research on the Internet and reading the backup material provided to the council.
"I can't get my arms around the facts, what is true and what isn't true," Leeman said, and that she's not comfortable with just making an educated guess.
The resolution references the potential for the Portland to Montreal Pipeline being used for the transmission of tar sands oil, yet the company that owns the fuel conduit has stated that there is no project in the queue to reverse the flow.