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An Act To Remove Limitations on Reciprocity for Concealed Handguns Permits
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 25 MRSA §2001-A, sub-§2, ¶F, as repealed and replaced by PL 2011, c. 691, Pt. A, §24, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
 
F.  A handgun carried by a person to whom a valid permit to carry a concealed handgun has been issued by that person's state of residence if that person's state of residence honors a permit to carry a concealed handgun issued under this chapter;
Sec. 2. 25 MRSA §2003, sub-§11, as amended by PL 2011, c. 298, §7, is further amended to read:
 
11. Permit to be in permit holder's immediate possession.   Every permit holder, including a nonresident who holds a permit issued by the nonresident's state of residence, shall have the holder's permit in the holder's immediate possession at all times when carrying a concealed handgun and shall display the same on demand of any law enforcement officer. A person charged with violating this subsection may not be adjudicated as having committed a civil violation if that person produces in court the concealed handgun permit that was valid at the time of the issuance of a summons to court or, if the holder exhibits the permit to a law enforcement officer designated by the summonsing officer not later than 24 hours before the time set for the court appearance, a complaint may not be issued.
 
SUMMARY
Current law authorizes the Chief of the State Police to grant reciprocity to a permit to carry a concealed handgun issued from another state if the other state has substantially equivalent or stricter requirements for the issuance of a permit and the other state observes the same rules of reciprocity regarding a person issued a permit under Maine law.
This bill removes the authority of the Chief of the State Police to enter into reciprocity agreements and eliminates the required equivalency provisions and simply recognizes a concealed handgun permit issued to a person by that person's state of residence if that person's state of residence honors a permit to carry a concealed handgun issued under Maine law.