Maine town votes down mandatory gun bill

Residents in Byron, Maine, overwhelmingly defeated a proposal to make gun ownership mandatory. Residents voted at a Byron town meeting Monday to strike from the meeting agenda an article that would make it mandatory for residents to own a firearm, the Sun Journal newspaper in Lewiston, Maine, reported. Those who spoke against the article said they didn't want to be told what to do and they didn't want someone entering their homes to ensure they have a firearm. Byron's population is about 140 people. "We're being told it's illegal and that we can't enforce it," one speaker said. "Why are they doing it? Because they want to make a statement to the government. They don't want to be dictated to but we're getting dictated to by some people telling us we have to have it." Selectman Patrick Knapp-Veilleux said a resident asked city leaders include the article on the agenda and the selectmen voted to do so. "It is my understanding that this was put onto the warrant to make a statement to the federal government and anyone else who is listening that we're tired of all the restrictions that they put on each and every one of us as citizens of this country and each and every little small town throughout the country," Knapp-Veilleux said.