Maine Town Considering Mandatory Gun Ownership: 'We're Fed Up,' Byron Politician Says

Residents of Byron, Maine, are expected to pass a measure making gun ownership mandatory in the town.

Byron, population 140, is considering the idea at its next town meeting Monday. Town politicians argued that just about every household has at least one gun already.

"We're trying to prevent someone from coming into our town and trying to restrict our rights," Byron Head Selectman Anne Simmons-Edmunds told the River Valley Sun Journal. "It's time to tell the government, 'Enough's enough. Quit micromanaging us.'"

Should the measure pass, Byron would check to see that residents have a legal firearm.

Simmons-Edmunds told the paper that the measure, formally known as an “article,” is expected to pass. She said it has the support of all three of Byron’s selectmen.

The measure was crafted in simple language that asks, “Shall the town of Byron vote to require all households to have firearms and ammunitions to protect the citizens?"

Byron is the second Maine town to consider mandatory gun ownership. A resident of Sabattus, Maine, wanted to put the issue before his neighbors, but the town’s politicians and police chief squashed the measure.

But that’s not expected to happen in Bryon, according to Simmons-Edmunds.

“We’re fed up,” she said of her neighbors. “Unlike Sabattus, we’re going to pass it.”