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An Act To Promote the Safe Use and Sale of Firearms
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  15 MRSA §394  is enacted to read:
§ 394. Sale or transfer of firearms to prohibited persons; strict liability
 
1.  Unlawful sale or transfer; strict liability.     A person may not sell or transfer a firearm to a prohibited person as described in section 393.
 
2.  Penalty.     The following penalties apply to violations of this section.
 
A.  A person who violates subsection 1 commits a civil violation for which a fine of $500 must be adjudged.
 
B.  A person who violates subsection 1 after having been adjudicated as having committed a civil violation under subsection 1 commits a Class E crime, which is a strict liability crime as defined in Title 17-A, section 34, subsection 4-A.
 
3.  Affirmative defense.     It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the seller or transferor of the firearm requested that a federally licensed firearm dealer complete a computerized background check under the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or successor background check system approved by the Attorney General of the United States, on the purchaser or transferee prior to the sale or transfer of the firearm and the background check indicated that the person was not a prohibited person.
§ 395. Sale or transfer of firearms to prohibited persons; culpable mental state
 
1.  Unlawful sale or transfer; culpable mental state.     A person is guilty of selling or transferring a firearm to a prohibited person if that person intentionally or knowingly sells or transfers a firearm to a person that the seller or transferor knows or believes is prohibited from possessing a firearm under section 393.
 
2.  Penalty.     A violation of this section is a Class D crime.
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §455, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. H, §1 and affected by Pt. X, §2, is amended to read:
 
2. False or fictitious name.   A person may not give a false or fictitious name to a dealer. A person who violates this subsection commits a civil violation for which a fine of $50 may$1,000 must be adjudged.
 
SUMMARY
This bill creates the civil violation of the sale or transfer of a firearm to a prohibited person and strict liability Class E crime for a 2nd or subsequent offense of selling or transferring a firearm to a prohibited person. The bill also creates an affirmative defense to prosecution under this new civil violation and crime that the seller or transferor of the firearm requested a federally licensed firearm dealer to conduct a computerized background check under the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Instant Criminal Background Check System on the purchaser or transferee prior to the sale or transfer of the firearm and the background check indicated that the purchaser or transferee was not a prohibited person.
It creates the Class D crime of the sale or transfer of a firearm to a prohibited person. A person is guilty of this crime if that person intentionally or knowingly sells or transfers a firearm to another person that the seller or transferor knows or believes is prohibited from possessing a firearm.
It increases the fine from $50 to $1,000 for the civil violation of giving a false or fictitious name to a firearms dealer and makes the fine mandatory.