Maine Top Court Overturns Gun Ban in Housing Projects
PORTLAND, Me. — Maine’s highest court Tuesday struck down a 20-year-old ban on guns in public housing projects.
Sidestepping the constitutional issue of the right to bear arms, the Supreme Judicial Court instead ruled, 6 to 0, that the Portland Housing Authority has no authority under state law to regulate possession of guns.
The National Rifle Assn. sued on behalf of an anonymous couple who live in the projects and own hunting rifles and handguns in violation of their lease.
The Housing Authority won the first round when a judge upheld the ban. Some tenants at Sagamore Village, one of the Housing Authority’s largest projects, were critical of Tuesday’s court ruling.
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