2016 Maine Question 3

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.

Question 3: Citizen Initiative
An Act To Require Background Checks for Gun Sales
Results
Votes %
Yes 366,770 48.20%
No 394,157 51.80%
Valid votes 760,927 98.60%
Invalid or blank votes 10,781 1.40%
Total votes 771,708 100.00%
Elections in Maine

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.[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]

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

Opponents

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
  1. https://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.
  4. "Gun purchase background check mandate question qualifies for Maine ballot". The Bangor Daily News.
  5. "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.
  9. "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.
  11. "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. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2016-10-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. "Several Maine Sheriffs' oppose background checks for gun sales". WCSH-6. October 5, 2016.
  16. http://www.ellsworthamerican.com/opinions/editorials/say-yes-background-checks/
  17. http://responsiblemaine.org/maine-womens-lobby-endorses-question-3-protect-victims-domestic-violence/
  18. http://www.pressherald.com/2016/10/09/our-view-vote-yes-on-question-3-to-close-maine-gun-sales-loophole/
  19. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/10/11/guns-background-checks-elections-nov-8-editorials-debates/91871110/
  20. http://www.timesrecord.com/news/2016-11-04/Opinion/Times_Record_Endorses_Maine_Referendums%5B%5D
  21. http://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. http://www.centralmaine.com/2016/08/24/nra-official-urges-mainers-to-reject-background-checks-on-gun-sales/
  24. http://www.pressherald.com/2016/10/31/margins-of-support-shrink-for-3-of-the-6-maine-ballot-issues-poll-indicates/
  25. http://www.centralmaine.com/2016/09/27/most-mainers-favor-background-checks-on-gun-sales/
  26. "Tabulations for Elections held in 2016". Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions. Maine Department of the Secretary of State. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
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