I reached out to Susan Collins and Angus King regarding a couple of bills going through the senate and was surprised to receive this letter back from Susan Collins.  I know, it is a form letter, but its good to see her position written down.   Agree with it or not, it is laid out.

No word from Angus at all.

Do note that I had to do some cutting and pasting to post here and redacted my personal info.  There must be a way to pull a "letter" out of an e-mail body and convert it to a .jpg so I can insert it but I cannot figure it out.

This is the information that I received though:

Dear Mr. XXX,



         Thank you for contacting me to share your views about gun control proposals in the Senate. I appreciate your taking the time to do so.

         I grew up in northern Maine, where responsible gun ownership is part of the heritage of many families, including my own. Throughout my Senate service, I have worked to uphold this heritage and have opposed legislation that would infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. I am strongly opposed to a national gun registry. As you are no doubt aware, Maine has one of the highest rates of gun ownership, yet one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the country.

         There are some commonsense improvements we can make to our gun laws that are aimed at reducing gun violence and better ensuring that guns stay in the hands of law-abiding citizens. I have repeatedly voted for a proposal sponsored by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) to require background checks for all commercial transactions – including those at gun shows and online. We can further improve the background checks system by making sure information about people who are prohibited from owning guns is accurate and available to law enforcement. For example, I cosponsored the bipartisan Fix NICS Act, authored by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), which was signed into law in March 2018. This bill, introduced after the tragic shooting at a church in Sutherland Spring, Texas, strengthens the National Instance Criminal Background Check System (NICS) by ensuring that federal and state agencies are complying with the current law and uploading complete and accurate records. I have also joined Senator Toomey (R-PA) as a cosponsor of the NICS Denial Notification Act, which would require federal officials to notify state law enforcement within 24 hours when a person prohibited from buying a gun tries to do so and fails the background check.

         Another important step we can take is to give law enforcement the tools they need to investigate and prosecute illegal gun transfers, known as straw purchases, which put guns in the hands of criminals who cannot legally obtain a firearm. I have introduced a bill with Senator Leahy (D-VT), the Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act, to help law enforcement end this practice, a major contributor to the violence across the southern border, gang violence in our cities, and the heroin epidemic in our communities.

         Following the tragic shooting in Orlando by a gunman with purported terrorist ties, I authored a bipartisan amendment that would prevent individuals who are on the No Fly or the Selectee lists from purchasing firearms while ensuring that no American is deprived of his or her Second Amendment right without due process. According to the FBI, these two lists contain 109,000 individuals, 2,700 of whom are Americans. These are individuals who have genuine ties to terrorist activities or who, based on substantive criteria and credible information, have been deemed to pose a terrorism threat. Notably, a group of distinguished military and intelligence leaders who have been on the frontlines in fighting terrorism, including former CIA Director General Petraeus and retired General Stanley McChrystal, wrote a letter urging support for this compromise. In their letter, they noted that had our amendment been law, “the FBI might have been able to detect and stop the Orlando killer.” On June 23, 2016, a majority of senators voted to advance my bipartisan amendment beyond a preliminary procedural motion.

         Later introduced as a bill in February 2018, my Terrorist Firearms Prevent Act (S. 2458) legislation would provide robust due process procedures to protect the gun rights of law-abiding Americans. Any American denied a purchase under S. 2458 would have the opportunity to have his or her case heard before a federal judge within 14 days. The government would bear the burden of proof, and if it failed, individuals would have their attorneys’ fees paid and would be able to seek expedited review of their inclusion on either the No Fly or Selectee list. Furthermore, to ensure this authority is not abused, the bill would provide important oversight through reporting requirements about the firearms denials and the number of successful challenges.

         As a nation, we must also examine the common thread that connects many acts of gun violence: untreated or under-treated serious mental illness. I supported a bill called the 21st Century Cures Act, which became law in 2016 and which improves coordination among mental health services and increases resources for them. While mental health is just one facet of the problem of mass shootings in our country, it is a significant one.

         Finally, it is essential that we take steps to secure our schools to ensure that they are a safe learning environment. I cosponsored the Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act, which became law in March 2018 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act. This law will enhance school safety by helping local communities fund new training, reporting systems, and security infrastructure. I have also cosponsored the School Safety & Mental Health Service Improvement Act, which would assist communities seeking to upgrade school safety infrastructure and technology. It would invest in mental health programs so that students have access to the services they need, including through school counselors and mental health professionals, and would create a Presidential Task Force to coordinate federal resources.

         Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. As Congress continues to address violence in our communities, I will work to ensure that the Second Amendment rights of our nation’s law-abiding citizens are protected.

Sincerely,

Susan M. Collins
United States Senator