http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/13/susan-collins-background-checks_n_3077297.html
ITS LIKE A FUCKING CANCER!

Maine and Vermont are states that ALWAYS vote democrat.  The only reason why they don't have gun control laws like CT yet is because there is a lot less crime up there and virtually no urban areas.

Pretty sure Collins and Snowe are RINOs.  Just about worthless.  I think Snowe is not running again for relection - can't recall.  Maybe she is already out.

Count on those two to vote to ban weapons, or vote for whatever comes down the pike.  Ditto for Shaheen in NH.  I have some reason to hope re Ayotte, regardless of recent BS.  Everyone else in the Northeast is a lost cause, as far as I can tell - Senate wise.

I've found Maine to be a conflicted state.
They typically vote for those that offer the most reward regardless of politics.
While many enjoy their Liberty, they also rely on Gov. assistance.
Most Mainers own firearms as a necessary tool, which it is.

Things you'll find in every home in Maine:
Chainsaw
Rifle and ammo
Beer
Axe
Snowblower or Snow Plow
Shovels
Gas cans
A spare of everything

I would say most Mainers are better prepared than most states excepting Alaskans.

Rambling ....

Yep, Maine s a very complicated state if you are trying to figure out the politics there. It's certainly not as simple as red state/lue state.

its interesting to me how when you get out of the city-like areas (there's no real cities in Maine) Maine becomes very red state-ish, but the population difference/density really throws off the overall demographics of the state. im 45 min from portland and its a totally different feel.

This.

On the rare chance that I go into Portland, I feel like I'm in a different country.

yeah I dunno when the last gun law was passed in maine...

lots or libs in portland now though....
the bastards finally got a statewide building code passed a couple years ago

No kidding, I went through Portland yesterday on my way to Cabelas and it was nothing but Obama bumper stickers

I have considered moving to Maine when I retire, but I am not sure it's safe long term.  I don't want to leave liberal CT and end up in the same boat 5 years later.  I just hope ME and NH don't end up like CT.

I hear you...I have property on the coast with plans of a small home to retire.
Though the area has ZERO crime and my use of firearms in this particular place is hunting and plinking, I can't help but feel what happened in Ct will spread all the way to Maine.

If I were a resident there I'd get busy NOW to stop the spead of gun control.

i really feel like the retards are going to move from MA to NH and ME once they realize they fucked up their own state. Maybe VT has a chance since all the pissed off NYers in the Capital District area could easily move to VT.

I am thinking of PA, but having doubts about it for the same reasons..... I think the NE is fucked. Maybe we should all congregate in one area to at least hold the fort?

They started doing that a long time ago. That is why the southern part of the state is so liberal now. Anyone born and raised here in my age bracket (early 40s) generally hunts/ fishes and loves the outdoors and firearms. Even the women. They are also not afraid to tell someone from out of town to go back to where they came from. You talk about going 45 mins north of Portland and having it be a different world? Hell, I live on the west side of 95 and crossing over to the east side is like a totally different world in my town. I live in a very touristy beach town (alot of you guys have probably been here). East of  I95 is mostly transients from NY, CT,& MA . I live a couple miles from the beach as the crow flies and about 2 minutes off the highway exit. I shoot in my backyard and no one calls the cops. They probably wouldn't come anyway. My BIL sold his house next door to me to two gay dudes from Mass and they called the po-po on some neighborhood kids on 4 wheelers. When they gave them the address the PD told them to get used to it "You live in the woods now". Alot of the police officers in town were born and raised here too and they tend to lean towards the locals when stuff happens. The "Gaybors" (as we liked to call them) weren't here long, and sold the house to a local kid so all is back to normal. All of my neighbors drink beer, shoot guns, fish, ride 4 wheelers , burn shit in their backyards at night and hate Obama Just like up North.

So.....We're still here, we're just getting outnumbered.  I'd like to retire in the Bingham/Moscow area. I could cash out here and live like a king up there. I don't see the authorities in Northern areas enforcing any gun laws anyway, even if they pass them eventually. In some places the response time for law enforcement is a couple of hours. They have more important shit to do than enforce some mag ban on a couple guys target shooting in a gravel pit. Like catching poachers.... A real crime.

Isn't this pretty much every State in the US?

Obviously liberals want a nationwide ban, but if they had to chip away they'd try to make all of the northeast the first gun free part of the country. You have to figure since ME, VT, and NH are already blue it and surrounded by ban states it may only take some pressure from liberals on the outside to get them to fall eventually as well.

Yeah, Glad to be in ALASKA

Didn't Ted Stevens stay in office because of his ability to earmark Billions of $ to Alaska for random shit like bridges?

Oh Dan... There are no bridges in this town.


Or should I say BBBBridges.

Same here, hey maybe we're neighbors & don't even know it !  

 

I've spent time in most of the 'red' states across the fruited plain including Montana, Wyoming, S. Dakota, Alaska, et.al., including New England and can tell you most assuredly that Maine has that wide-open feeling and  will not go 'blue' with regards to firearms.  There just isn't the fire-in-the-belly to do it like it was here in CT.  Once Sandy Hook lit the flame, it was a foregone conclusion as to what the results were going to be regardless of our efforts to slow things down.  I don't feel any of that up in Maine when we go there.  We'll be up there three or four times this summer, too, looking at potential properties and will lick our fingers to gauge which way the wind is blowing but I'm confident it'll be fine.  Yes, Portland is really a bastion of liberals but that's the plan: keep 'em all couped up in one geographical area in case we have to round 'em all up quickly (lol, of course).

Rome

When I first met my neighbors a few years ago and they heard my different accent, I was asked "so, where are you from?"  I responded, and the neighbor mulled it over and eyed me suspiciously for a minute before saying "well, at least you aren't from Massachusetts."

That sounds about right haha. As far as most northern Mainers go, if you live south of Bangor you may as well be from Massachussetts

Perhaps. I am north of Kittery, but South of Ogunquit

Lisbon area here lol.





 

Wow...I used to live in York.

So you understand what is happening to our town with the influx of Summer retards.....

Looks like Senator Collins did the right thing today. Wish I could say he same thing for King. What a POS.

The articles I read indicated that Collins voted FOR the gun control bill.

Yes she did...........I've got a place in Winter Harbor so I wanted to see what she was going to do. Freakin' Turncoat!

She voted against hi cap mag ban and assault weapon ban. Also voted to protect 2nd ammendment rights of vets and uphold the 2nd ammendment and keep the US from entering the UN firearms treaty. She also voted for CCW reciprocity

ETA: it at least appears that way in the link posted on here to the voting results

Connecticut is like that in some ways too. I grew up in a farm town, and the nearest city (Willimantic, which is a post-industrial slum) was 20 minutes away. The vast majority of folks in the rural areas are red-state types, but we also have multiple big cities, and unfortunately those are where the majority of the population is concentrated, and they've all been run into the dirt by the progressives. Rural CT is a beautiful place to live, but the work opportunities are crappy across the state, and it isn't getting better-- and worst of all, the political climate here is hopeless for someone like me, local town reps aside.

Anyone else get this yesterday? Just curious because I had not contacted her after this vote. I have contacted her in the past and she had already responded. Wondering if everyone who previously contacted her got this email even if they hadn't contacted her recently. (ie, this was not sent in response to something I recently emailed. Its like *she* was trying to contact me....).

 
April 25, 2013
 
Dear Xxxx,
 
Thank you for contacting me in opposition to gun legislation recently considered by the Senate. I appreciate your comments in defense of our constitutional right to bear arms. Unfortunately, Mainers have recently been flooded by advertisements and mailings from out-of-state special interest groups that not only include distortions, but also blatant misrepresentations about my position. In an effort to set the record straight, I have attached a fact sheet that I hope will be helpful.
 
I grew up in northern Maine, where responsible gun ownership is part of the heritage of many families. 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 and national buyback programs. As you are no doubt aware, Maine has one of the highest rates of gun ownership, yet the lowest rate of violent crime in the country. 
 
I supported a bipartisan agreement between Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) that would have improved the background check system to help prevent convicted criminals and those with dangerous mental illnesses from purchasing guns without infringing on law-abiding gun owners' Second Amendment rights. The Manchin-Toomey proposal represented a vast improvement over the provisions authored by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) currently in the bill. Senator Schumer's language, which I opposed, would have required a father giving a gun to his daughter, or a brother selling a hunting rifle to his brother, to undergo a background check, which I found to be onerous and completely unnecessary. The Manchin-Toomey compromise took a much more common sense approach by requiring background checks only for commercial transactions and exempts family gifts and transfers. To improve the quality and completeness of the data in the NICS, their bill would have mandated improvements that would require states and the federal government to send all relevant records on criminals and the people who are dangerously mentally ill through state plans developed in conjunction with the Department of Justice. It was critical to my support that the Manchin-Toomey bill explicitly banned the federal government from creating a national firearms registry and imposed serious criminal penalties on any person who misused or illegally retained firearms records.
 
The Manchin-Toomey amendment would have created a National Commission on Mass Violence, a proposal I have long endorsed, that would convene experts to study all aspects of these violent attacks, including the exposure to excessive violence in the media and the lack of mental health services.
 
As a nation, we must examine the fact that serious mental illness is a factor in many violent crimes. As was the case in the Connecticut, Colorado, and Arizona shootings, mental illness is a common factor in many of these tragedies. We should evaluate how we as a society can better identify and care for troubled individuals who pose a threat to themselves and others.  That is why I am an original cosponsor of the Excellence in Mental Health Act, a bipartisan bill that would expand access to mental health care for individuals through our nation's Community Mental Health Centers. It would also improve the quality of mental health care by holding these centers accountable to higher standards.
 
I am also the coauthor of anti-crime legislation that would strengthen current laws that prohibit an individual from deliberately purchasing a firearm on behalf of another who is already barred from buying a gun. This bill would help keep guns out of the hands of criminals. This conduct, called "straw purchasing," is already a felony. Yet, under current law, it amounts to little more than a paperwork violation. The Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act would give law enforcement the tools they need to investigate and prosecute these crimes more effectively, while protecting legitimate sales. The bill does not in any way change who is prohibited from owning a gun. Straw purchasing and trafficking serve one purpose: to put guns in the hands of a criminal. We worked with law enforcement officials, the NRA, and licensed gun dealers in drafting this bill. 
 
I also believe that Congress should examine school safety. I am the lead cosponsor of the School and Campus Safety Enhancements Act, which would provide matching grants to help cover the cost of stronger security measures in schools. 
 
Thank you again for taking time to contact me. As Congress continues to address violence in our schools and communities, I will continue to work to ensure that the Second Amendment rights of our nation's law-abiding citizens are protected. 


Sincerely,


Susan M. Collins
United States Senator

While Collins hits the high points of the bill she's describing, I believe there was more in there that wasn't very attractive.  However, it's also my understanding that this is a dead duck and not worth worrying about  at this time.  Maine has kept it's cool under some pressure from its sibling New England sisters for now.  

Rome