Not sure I understand the problem at this level.
Portland is asking for an exception to preemption, right? Not passing an ordinance as I understand it. So what are the chances that the legislature will seriously consider this? Nill I trust.
What the resolution represents, and I think the Mayor articulated this well, is that the Portland City Council, as it is currently represented, would like the state legislature to consider picking up this resolution up as a possible piece of future legislation. His personal justification for supporting the measure seemed to have more to do with a desire for the city council to have some autonomy than specific support for the gun ban measure itself.
You are correct in that the political reality in the state capitol makes it unlikely this will ever even be picked up by a legislator, let alone pass into law. It remains, however, a symbolic loss for gun rights in Maine.
Forest you were excellent. This was a love fest that will be resoundingly defeated in committee. I have asked Governor elect LePage to make a statement early on, long before it reached committee.
It was good to see you this evening~
Likewise. There has been a palpable tension here on the forums and I am glad that we had an opportunity to take a stand on the same side. I owe you an apology for my condescending attitude.
We are also in the process of writing a letter to Governor-elect LePage.
Correct, they are asking the state to pass a law banning guns in public. They aren't themselves passing such an ordinance.
There is very little chance of this gaining momentum in Augusta. However, I am losing my faith in legislators ability to take facts into consideration when looking at an issue. Skolnik lied tonight on so many issues. No one listened to the factual evidence and they all voted whatever they damn well felt like regardless of what their constituents want.
Discussed this with Shane after the meeting. The reality of the situation is that the population centers in Maine (Portland, Augusta, Bangor) are the liberal enclaves in an otherwise conservative state. The Portland City Council represents the electorate who put them in office, and as such, they are as group inclined towards a mode of thinking which is by its nature hostile to gun rights. I did not expect to win tonight but I was still a little shocked at how one-sided it was.
As an advocate for what I call "evidence-based politics" I am continually discouraged by what you point out. There exist well-defined methods of determining the objective truth of many things in this world. Gun rights are solidly in this category. There are decades of statistical and sociological data which support our position, which people like Skolnik will always ignore in order to preserve their a priori assumptions.
Rep. Elect G. Paul Waterhouse District 98 will be introducing legislation to repeal the Capitol rule.
Not one councilor addressed Maine Constitution Article 1 Section 16!
It was briefly addressed by Mr. Wood and dismissed on the boilerplate "time, situation, reasonable exception" excuse. It amazes me that we can stand there and have an argument about a right which was declared to be beyond question. Nowhere else in Article 1 is such strong language used. The authors of our state constitution obviously held the right to keep and bear arms in great esteem, and for good reason.