Bay State's gun woes no cause for Maine action

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

In your Dec. 1 editorial, "Maine legislators should not be afraid of tough gun laws," you suggest Maine should adopt a licensing and registration program and a fee for handgun buyers similar to what Massachusetts has in place. You also make a mention of the rising rate of firearms crime in Massachusetts.

I'm confused. If Massachusetts-style gun laws are the answer to gun violence, then why is Massachusetts having such a problem with gun crimes?

Maine has the lowest rate of violent crime in the U.S. So why should Maine implement a gun licensing/registration system like the one used by Massachusetts? That system has already been shown to be an ineffectual method of crime prevention.

The primary reason given in your editorial for tougher gun laws in Maine was laughable.

Maine needs more laws because Massachusetts has a high crime rate? So Massachusetts has a crime problem, but Maine citizens must be penalized?

These people who are supposedly buying guns in Maine and transporting them to Massachusetts are already breaking the law. So what will simply passing new laws solve? How about enforcing the laws already on the books?

Massachusetts authorities ought to focus on getting their collective acts together and actually fighting crime. That would certainly be more effective than their current strategy, which seems to consist of blaming other states for their own problems. Massachusetts may be a lot of things, but a role model for Maine is certainly not one of them.

Nathan Markham

Augusta

cugir_sa@yahoo.com