Growing up, we were pretty sure the handgun was way up, up high, in the hall closet. We knew we couldn’t reach it; we knew it was strictly forbidden. If we spoke of it at all, it was in hushed tones — tinged with awe, pride and a bit of fear.

Given that, my sister’s concealed carry permit came as a surprise. My family is no stranger to guns –— they are in my own home — but they’ve always had a clear function: varmint control, hunting, Dad’s service revolver. My sister doesn’t have a reason to carry, acknowledging she’s not entirely comfortable with it. But she’s quite sure about universal background checks: “Who’d be against that?”

Good question.

Maine will vote on universal background checks for all gun sales this November, thanks to a citizen ballot initiative. Alongside many volunteers, I helped organize and collect signatures at the polls in Brunswick last November. The enthusiasm for the initiative was overwhelming, both in the dedication of volunteer signature gatherers and in voter response. I’d collected signatures before for Clean Elections, a popular initiative. But universal background checks? We were swamped. The highest percentage of voters who signed that day came from Brunswick. In January we submitted over 85,000 signatures, from every town in Maine, far more than we needed.

What does the initiative do? This week, through online Maine sellers and Uncle Henry’s, I can buy an AR15, or a Glock, or a semi-automatic, or maybe just a very small handgun, among dozens of other firearms. Private sale, cash, and no background check. I can be a criminal, or someone ruled mentally incompetent, or a known domestic abuser, and I can walk away with one or all of those guns, no waiting period, no questions asked. If I commit a crime with that gun, and it is recovered, it can’t be connected to me. The lack of background checks shields criminals and others who should not have a gun. It emboldens law-breakers, and endangers us needlessly.

The initiative changes that. All sales — commercial or private — will have a background check. It levels the playing field for commercial sellers who are following the rules. Background checks for private sales will happen at a commercial seller, for a nominal fee or free. Ninety-eight percent of Maine residents are no more than 10 miles from a licensed dealer, so a background check creates no hardship. Most of the time, the checks take fewer than 3 minutes, and voila! You’ve got your gun. Criminals, those found to be mentally ill and those with a domestic violence history, will find it harder to obtain guns.

Background checks work. In states with universal background checks, there are 46 percent fewer intimate partner gun homicides. This is particularly pertinent in Maine, where, controlling for our small population, we rank the ninth highest in the nation for these homicides. Background checks save family lives.

Background checks save police officer lives. Forty-eight percent fewer deaths of police officers from handguns occur in states with universal background checks. That’s just one reason why the Maine Chiefs of Police Association unanimously supports this initiative. Maine’s police chiefs also know that background checks will disrupt the drugs-to-guns trade market that is well-documented in our state. Criminals come north to buy guns in private sales, flooding our state with heroin, and carrying guns south, reaping a profit that costs Maine lives. Background checks will hinder that criminal activity.

So back to my sister’s question: Who’d be against that? Not Maine’s responsible gun owners. NRA members overwhelming support universal background checks, at 74 percent. Not family hunters or collectors. The proposal specifically exempts transfers to family members, very broadly defined. Not hunting buddies. The proposal exempts loaning a gun to a friend to try it out.

Who’d be against that? The NRA. Despite the overwhelming support of its members for universal background checks, the NRA is already fighting Maine’s November initiative. Why? The NRA is funded and working not for responsible Maine gun owners, but for the out-of-state gun manufacturing industry. Anything that hampers the easy sale of more guns, the NRA opposes. We know from other state campaigns that the NRA will flood the airwaves with misinformation. That’s all they’ve got to fight with.

What can we do? Get informed. Bring together a few neighbors or friends, or your church group, ask for a brief presentation and learn about the initiative. The powerful NRA will fight with paranoia. We’re going to win with truth.

In November, Maine people can take a common-sense step to keep more guns out of the hands of criminals and others we have already decided should not have them. Who’d be against that?

———

Jackie Sartoris is a former Brunswick Town Councilor, and a volunteer with Mainers for Responsible Gun Ownership.