State v. Brown

McKUSICK, Chief Justice.

In 1987 the people of this state voted to amend article I, section 16, of the Maine Constitution to provide that “[e]very citizen has a right to keep and bear arms; and this right shall never be questioned.” By their vote the people struck four words, “for the common defense,” from the original provision, with the apparent intent of establishing for every citizen the individual right to bear arms, as opposed to the collective right to bear arms for the common defense. 1 The issue on this appeal is the constitutionality, after the 1987 amendment, of the criminal statute…