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Legal Information: Maine

State Gun Laws

Updated: 
November 28, 2023

If the abuser is prohibited from getting a firearm permit due to a criminal conviction, does the prohibition expire after a certain amount of time?

In some situations, the restriction on getting a permit only lasts for a certain period of time. Once five years has passed after the adult or juvenile completes the sentence imposed as a result of one of the following convictions, s/he can re-apply for a permit to carry a firearm (but s/he still cannot get a permit to carry a concealed handgun):

  • for adults, committing a crime that is punishable by a prison sentence of one year or more; or
  • for juveniles, committing:
    • crimes that would disqualify them from getting a permit if committed as an adult; or
    • any crime committed while using a firearm or other dangerous weapon in Maine, in another state, or in the Passamaquoddy Tribe or Penobscot Nation.1

However, if the conviction was for one of the domestic violence crimes listed in paragraph 1 of “If the abuser has been convicted of a crime, can s/he keep or buy a gun?,” there is the additional requirement that the person must not have been convicted of any crimes during the five-year period after completing the sentence. If the person is convicted of a new crime during the five-year period, s/he has to wait an additional five years after the sentence for that new crime is completed before applying for the firearm permit.2

The length of the prohibition is even shorter if the crime was nonviolent and was committed by a juvenile. If the juvenile did not cause or threaten bodily injury while committing any of the acts described in paragraph 1 of “If the abuser has been convicted of a crime, can s/he keep or buy a gun?,” s/he can get a firearm permit when s/he turns 18 or three years after completing of the sentence, whichever is later.3

1 ME ST T. 15 § 393(2)
2 ME ST T. 15 § 393(1-B)(B)
3 ME ST T. 15 § 393(1-A)