Second Amendment enters concealed weapon bill debate

1:00 AM

By Susan M. Cover scover@mainetoday.com MaineToday Media State House Writer

AUGUSTA -- A bill that would allow state workers to store concealed weapons in their locked vehicles while they are at work gained initial approval Monday from the Maine House.

L.D. 1603 would extend to state workers the same rights that a bill last year granted to workers in the private sector. The House voted 84-55 in support of the bill, which now goes to the Senate for consideration and will face further votes in the House.

Rep. David Burns, R-Whiting, said the bill would reaffirm the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

"I don't give up those constitutional rights because I'm a state employee, and I shouldn't be asked to," he said.

Last year, Rep. Dale Crafts, R-Lisbon, sponsored legislation that says employers cannot prohibit workers with concealed-firearms permits from keeping guns in their locked vehicles at work.

This year, Crafts came back with a separate bill to extend that provision to vehicles parked on state property, including courts and the State House.

The Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted 8-5 in support of the bill. The committee's House chairman, Rep. Gary Plummer, R-Windham, said people who have concealed-weapons permits have been "thoroughly vetted" and judged by Maine State Police to have "good moral character."

"It seemed to many of us this was just affirming rights people already have," he said.

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Second Amendment enters concealed weapon bill debate