While lefty pundits and liberal politicians have been slamming Republican lawmakers with claims that they’re too afraid to hold town hall meetings with constituents, it looks like Democrats in Maine are the ones chickening out on meeting with the public ahead of a November referendum on a “red flag” law.
Under Maine statute, all ballot initiatives are required to undergo a public hearing before Election Day. But Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Anne Carney has refused to schedule a hearing, claiming that the state constitution doesn’t require it and the constitution trumps state law. While I agree that the state constitution takes precedence over state statute, it’s not like Maine’s constitution forbids a public hearing on ballot initiatives. It’s simply silent on the matter, so state statute should still be followed.
David Trahan, a former state lawmaker who now leads the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, said his group, the NRA and the organization Gun Owners of Maine are ready to challenge that decision in court.
“The Legislature passed this statute. It’s in law,” Trahan said. “And what she’s basically saying is the chairs of the committee don’t have to follow the law. And sorry, but they do. So we’ll see what the court has to say.”
Republican lawmakers have also blasted Carney’s cowardice, with State Senator Matt Harrington declaring that the “red flag” proposal is a “dangerous piece of legislation that deserves a public hearing.”
Carney, for her part, claims that the legislature is simply too busy to hold a hearing. In a statement released on Monday, the senator whined that it isn’t “necessary or timely to hold a public hearing or further work on LD 1378 during this legislative session, while we still have hundreds of bills left for the full Legislature to vote on over the next few weeks.”
Again, that excuse doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. The statute in question says that ballot initiatives “must be afforded a public hearing conducted by the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over the subject matter of the petition or by a special legislative committee established for that purpose by the Legislative Council”, with the “public hearing must be conducted in the same manner as other public hearings.”
Contrary to Carney’s claims, it appears that the public hearing is necessary, and given that it must be held by a joint committee of Senate and House Judiciary members, it’s likely that it has to take place during the legislative session and not after lawmakers adjourn for the year. That means it’s timely as well.
I suspect that the 2A groups will be on strong legal ground if they do end up filing a lawsuit demanding a public hearing on the “red flag” referendum. And if a hearing isn’t held and the referendum passes, gun owners can always argue that new law should be voided because it was improperly adopted.
If I were a fan of “red flag” laws I’d hate to run that risk just to avoid having the public weigh in before Election Day, but Carney and others who want to replace the state’s “yellow flag” law appear terrified to give critics of the proposal an opportunity to highlight all the flaws in their proposal; including less due process and the outright removal of the mental health evaluation that’s required under current law.
In addition to the lawsuit that may be coming, I hope that Gun Owners of Maine, Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, NRA, and other interested groups will hold public meetings of their own to educate voters on the realities of the “red flag” proposal and why it’s such a bad idea. Clearly the anti-gunners want to keep Mainers in the dark, so it’s up to us to shed some light on the inherent problems with the gun control lobby’s proposal.
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