Call for magazine capacity restrictions
Deer in the Maine woods and the hunters who hunt them are safer than families at a bowling alley or patrons at their local bar. Maine state hunting law limits semi-automatic rifle magazines to five bullets. Deer can escape while a gun is being reloaded.
People facing a magazine containing 50 rounds or more don’t have that option. Hunters do not want fellow hunters spraying lead among the pines. The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM) can take the lead affording Maine people the same odds of survival in their daily lives that sportsmen enjoy while in the woods. Supporting a five-bullet magazine limit on all firearms in the state would at least even the odds and be in the SAM’s best interests.A disgusted public will eventually demand an end to mass killings. Hunters are slightly over 4% of the United States population. This is not enough votes to overcome a national trend to pass restrictive gun laws when public patience with legislative inaction becomes exhausted. Exhaustion begets anger that can result in overreaction, which in this case could radically change hunting in Maine.When change is inevitable, it is best to become part of managing the change than to helplessly await the result. The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine can protect itself by lobbying to enact laws that protect both Second Amendment rights and create a safer public environment. This is an opportunity to provide leadership that can have a positive effect in Maine and perhaps the nation.
Thomas Foley,
Cumberland
Psychedelic medicine for mental health
As a Maine resident and a US Army Veteran who has seen firsthand as family members and brothers and sisters in arms struggle with PTSD, anxiety and depression, I want to strongly encourage all Maine voters to support passage of L.D. 1914 —the Maine Psilocybin Health Access Act — which would make a positive impact on the mental health of Maine’s residents. For many Mainers, passage of this measure could change — and even save — their lives.L.D. 1914 creates a state-regulated therapeutic system for adults over 21 to access natural psychedelic medicine under the guidance of a licensed and supervised facilitator at healing centers and health care facilities. State health regulators would have the power to study, authorize and regulate treatment, and it would remain illegal to sell natural psychedelic medicines.Johns Hopkins, NYU and UCLA are posting results showing psilocybin as effective mental health treatment for those who have exhausted every treatment and lost hope. Clinical trials show that the safety of psilocybin is excellent.The current treatments we have for serious mental health issues don’t always work for far too many people. Those who are struggling and have unsuccessfully tried every pill and therapy out there to cope with their depression and PTSD should have access to any and all potential healing approaches that might work for them.Please contact your state legislator and encourage them to support L.D. 1914 and help provide patients with a real chance to resolve the mental health challenges in front of them.
Nicolas Hamlin,
West Bath
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