PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘Resolve, To Establish a Working Group Concerning Domestic Violence and Firearms’
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the title and before the summary and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 1 Working group concerning domestic violence and firearms. Resolved: That the Commissioner of Public Safety shall convene a working group of interested parties to review and propose amendments to state law regarding the possession of firearms by prohibited persons in order to bring the State into conformity with federal law. The group shall look at incorporating into state law the prohibition of possession of firearms by a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. Each of the following must be invited to send a representative to participate in the working group: the Office of the Attorney General, the Maine Prosecutors Association, the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence, the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, the Maine Sheriffs' Association and up to 3 other entities that the Commissioner of Public Safety determines appropriate. The Commissioner of Public Safety shall report the working group’s recommendations, including proposed legislation, to the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety no later than January 15, 2010. The Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety may submit legislation to the 124th Legislature in 2010 based on the report.’
 
SUMMARY
This amendment replaces the bill with a resolve and directs the Commissioner of Public Safety to convene a working group concerning domestic violence and firearms. The group shall look at incorporating into state law the prohibition of possession of firearms by a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence in order to conform to federal law. The working group must invite representatives from each of the following to participate: the Office of the Attorney General, the Maine Prosecutors Association, the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence, the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, the Maine Sheriffs' Association and up to 3 other entities that the Commissioner of Public Safety determines appropriate. The Commissioner of Public Safety shall report the working group’s recommendations, including recommended legislation, to the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety no later than January 15, 2010. The Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety may submit legislation to the 124th Legislature in 2010 based on the report.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)