BRUNSWICK

Maine Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense celebrated Secretary of State Matt Dunlap’s certification Thursday of a ballot initiative to close what the group characterizes as a dangerous loophole in Maine’s background check law.

Dunlap announced Thursday the citizens’ initiative petition effort to consider additional requirements for background checks in the sale of firearms has been found valid.

The initiative to institute additional requirements for background checks in firearm sales will now go to the Legislature for consideration, per the provisions of the Maine Constitution. The Legislature can choose to enact the bill as written or to send it forward to a statewide vote in November 2016.

Maine Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, a coalition of volunteers, gun owners and gun violence survivors, said they collected signatures from every town and city in Maine to place the question on the ballot.

‘Our coalition continues to grow every day as more and more people join the campaign for common-sense background check reforms that will keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people,” said Jackie Sartoris, a Brunswick resident and volunteer with Maine Moms Demand Action, in a press release. “Closing the background check loophole will save lives.”

The Maine Background Check Initiative, which Maine Moms Demand Action say is supported by 80 percent of Maine voters, would require criminal background checks for all gun sales in the state, with reasonable exceptions for family, hunting, and selfdefense.

According to Maine Moms, under current law, background checks are only required for gun sales conducted by licensed dealers. But people can easily and anonymously buy guns from unlicensed sellers — often from strangers met online, at gun shows or through classified ads — with no background check required.

The initiative closes this loophole, requiring that everyone in Maine who buys a gun gets the same criminal background check, no matter where they buy it or who they buy it from, according to Maine Moms.

“While this initiative will not prevent every tragedy, it will make Maine safer and save lives,” said Judi Richardson of South Portland, whose daughter, Darien, a Bowdoin College graduate, died nearly six years ago as a result of gunshot wounds. “We cannot bring Darien back, but we are committed to preventing other Maine parents from suffering the unimaginable pain we have experienced after Darien’s death.”

Maine Moms submitted more than 85,000 signatures to the Secretary of State on Jan. 19. Thursday, the Secretary of State certified that the campaign has surpassed the number of signatures required to place a question on November’s ballot.

“Mainers have a strong tradition of hunting and lawful gun ownership,” said Bucky Owens, former Commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. “This ballot measure respects our Second

Amendment rights while recognizing that with rights come with responsibilities, such as the responsibility to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.”

In January, National Rifle Association spokeswoman Amy Hunter said that the NRA supported commercial background checks, but opposed interference in private gun sales.

“We do not support getting the government involved in lawful exchange of commerce between fellow citizens,” she said, adding that it is already illegal to sell a gun to a felon or for a felon to possess a gun. It is just a matter of whether the law is enforced.

The NRA believes in better enforcement of existing legislation and the organization.

Most criminals get their guns through the black market, theft or from family members, according to Hunter.

“We don’t see how background checks are going to stop that,” Hunter said in January. “There’s no evidence background checks will stop that.”

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