An Act To Promote the Safe Use and Sale of Firearms
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0415
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: DION, GERZOFSKY, COOPER, FOWLE, HUBBELL, LAJOIE, PIERCE, BREEN
Amends: 15 MRSA §394, 15 MRSA §455

Legislative Document 
No. 415 
H.P. 282 
House of Representatives, February 12, 2015 
An Act To Promote the Safe Use and Sale of Firearms 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative DION of Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator GERZOFSKY of Cumberland and 
Representatives: COOPER of Yarmouth, FOWLE of Vassalboro, HUBBELL of Bar Harbor, 
LAJOIE of Lewiston, PIERCE of Falmouth, Senator: BREEN of Cumberland. 
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.