BUCKFIELD — After four residents and one selectman spoke against a proposal to declare that Buckfield become a Second Amendment Sanctuary Town, further discussion fizzled and the board moved on Monday without a motion to consider a potential resolution.

Chairman Tina Brooks brought the Second Amendment Sanctuary proposal before the board for consideration, which included a two-page resolution passed by the town of Hopkinton, Rhode Island, in 2019. She noted that the neighboring town of Paris passed a similar resolution in 2019.

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Second Amendment sanctuary, also known as a gun sanctuary, is a state, county or locality in the United States that has adopted laws or resolutions that prohibit or impede the enforcement of certain gun control measures perceived as a violation of the Second Amendment.

No one at the meeting or watching on Zoom spoke in favor of adopting such a plan.

The owners of the Lowell Family Farm, named the 2020 Maine Dairy Farm of the Year, said, while they are gun owners and hunting advocates, they saw no benefit for the town to weigh in on such a divisive topic.

“It’s not a very forward-looking thing to adopt for the town,” Seri Lowell said. “We wonder what benefit is envisioned that it might actually bring to the town. It seems like an unnecessary nonstarter to us.”

“It seems like of all the needs facing small towns, the last thing Buckfield needs is to come down on one side or the other of a very divisive issue,” added her husband, Dana Lowell. “It makes zero sense.”

Some towns are becoming Second Amendment Sanctuaries in response to gun laws being proposed by state legislatures. Those communities are refusing to enforce gun-control laws because they feel they infringe on the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

“Maine already has some of the best gun laws in the nation as it is,” their son, Wheeler Lowell, said. “I’ve been looking at the NRA rating, and Maine is consistently rated in the Top 10, Top 15 for the past 20 years for gun laws.”

“I will echo a lot of the same things and concerns that the Lowell family just spoke to,” Buckfield resident Derek Galway said. “I’m just curious since we rely on the state police and we also rely on Oxford County Sheriff’s Office to enforce laws in this town, how we could possibly look to have those folks ignore certain gun laws when it pertains to just our town.”

Cheryl Coffman was the only selectman to give an opinion on the issue.

“I’m not inclined to advance something that is such a divisive political nature,” Coffman said. “I think that’s something that has to go to a citizens’ vote. That’s not something this board should be involved in.”

With no motion proposed, Selectman Martha Catevenis urged the board to move ahead to the next agenda item.

In other business, the board , which has switched its meeting dates from Tuesday to Monday, voted to meetings Thursdays in the four weeks when their scheduled meeting date falls on a national holiday.

The board also passed a request to the Budget Committee and department heads that it wants a flat budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year, which begins in July.

Considerable discussion was held on the adoption of new meeting rules and whether the board would follow Robert’s Rules of Order or some other form of parliamentary procedure. The three board members agreed to  postpone a decision until they could study the various methods.

« Previous

Oxford County arrest log

Next »

Photo: TikToker breaks out tricks in Oxford