Eliot Cutler has repeatedly said, and I concur with him, that we can all agree that none of us wants to see guns get into the hands of criminals or those who by reason of mental health problems or other factors are prohibited from having firearms. Cutler is the only gubernatorial candidate who has supported the universal background check for years. This is not a belief he acquired this year because he is running for governor.

The rub comes in how to design a universal background check system. We all realize that it may be challenging to operate such a program. Regardless, it is a doable and worthwhile public endeavor to institute and operate such a system.

The Maine and U.S. constitutions both guarantee our citizens the right to keep and bear firearms. I see this as a fundamental right of citizens of our country. But with rights also come responsibilities. I moved to Maine 30-plus years ago and have never looked back. One of the basic reasons for my love of Maine is the responsible exercise here of our right to keep and bear arms.

I served on the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine board of directors for 22 years. I co-managed the State of Maine Sportsman’s Show for five years as a volunteer on behalf of SAM, and served as an officer of SAM as its vice president, treasurer and clerk. I am also a benefactor life member of SAM and an endowment life member of the National Rifle Association.

I have worked hard to protect the traditional rights of Maine’s sportsmen and sportswomen. I don’t list this volunteer service here to get credit, but to let you know that over the years I have put my money where my mouth is. I have never wavered in my belief in Americans’ right to keep and bear arms, and I don’t do so now.

We who exercise our right to keep and bear arms must also take responsibility to protect that right for future generations. An integral part of that responsibility is to contribute to the job of seeing that those who our society has decided cannot be trusted with firearms, don’t get access to them. This is not to shift responsibility away from those who have committed atrocities, but to say that we can do better.

The federal government has indicated that only 60 percent of gun sales have an instant check done on the buyer. The process now in place allows an estimated 40 percent of all gun sales to go through without a background check.

“Instant check” is the vernacular for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The 40 percent of gun sales that take place without background checks are referred to as “private sales.”

A private sale does not require the purchaser to pass a background check before it can take place. Private sales are done among individuals, none of whom holds a federal firearms license. The federal firearms license allows the holder and his or her employees to conduct a regular business in the sale of firearms. Federal firearms licenses are required to do background checks on all gun buyers.

In 2012, the most recent year for which I could find data, 91,834 instant background checks were done for the federally licensed firearms dealers in Maine. The actual number of firearms sold could be somewhat higher or lower, reflecting the fact that some people buy multiple firearms and others never complete the purchase.

If you take it for granted that the number of instant background inquiries reflects the approximate number of firearms purchased through dealers with federal firearms licenses in 2012, this means that in that year, roughly 61,223 firearms transferred hands privately, without any check.

The other benefit of the universal background check to a private seller is that he or she may rest easy knowing that the buyer is qualified under law to purchase the firearm. As it now stands, the seller is required to meet all of the laws and restrictions placed on the sale of firearms without the information to make an informed decision. Once the universal background check is in place, the seller will be assured that the sale complies with federal law.

I am asking you to vote to support the 90 percent of the American public, the 84 percent of gun owners and the 74 percent of NRA members who support a universal background check for gun purchases.

Universal background checks for gun purchases is an idea whose time has come.

I ask your vote for independent Eliot Cutler for governor on Nov. 4.

— Special to the Press Herald