The array of firearms-related bills working their way through the Maine Legislature have brought out the anthropophobes (those who fear people) and hoplophobes (those who fear firearms or armed citizens) among us.

The apparent commonality is that people with these combined irrational fears would like to legislate where firearms can be carried or prevent the passage of legislation intended to allow Concealed Firearm Permit (CFP) holders more independence with regard to where legally concealed firearms can be carried. For those with deep-seated fears of people and firearms, anti-gun (victim disarmament) legislation and opposition to the expansion of CFP holder rights is the product of defense mechanisms intended to distort reality.

Those who advocate for victim disarmament live in a fearful world where they believe others intend to do people harm, which may stem from how they believe they may handle emotional conflicts while in possession of a firearm. Surprisingly, these same anti-gun advocates reside in a state of denial, refusing to accept the reality that bad things-an actual assailant-happen and that police may not be there to save the day.

Illustrating this, during a Criminal Justice and Public Safety Work Session, while discussing LD 932, “An Act To Allow Concealed Weapons in the State House,” State Representative Anna Blodgett, D-Augusta, said, “I feel perfectly safe here (the State House) and I think I would feel less safe if we didn’t know who was here packing heat.” This statement makes two faulty assumptions that permeate the victim disarmament debate.

First, Rep. Blodgett is working under the belief that because firearms, including those legally possessed by CFP holders are not allowed within the Capitol Complex, nobody could possibly be carrying a firearm. Wrong. I’m sure that administrators at Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, Columbine, and the numerous gun-free zones where massacres have occurred had formed the same naive theory. Further, an assailant intent on doing harm doesn’t care about laws and will find ways to bypass security measures. This wouldn’t be farfetched considering there aren’t metal detectors or pat-downs at the entrances of the State House.

Second, Rep. Blodgett feels that knowing who is “packing heat” around her would make her feel safer. To try to ascertain one’s many motivations for carrying a firearm and to then deduce whether or not that person is there to harm others or conduct legislative business while possessing the means to protect one’s self is impossible. I don’t believe that she would feel safer knowing who was packing, rather distressed by imagined impending danger. After all, the bill was amended in committee to require CFP holders to check in with Capitol Police before entering the Cross Building, tunnel, or State House and she still voted against it.

To cope with nonsensical phobias, anti-gun advocates seek to weaken ordinary people’s-law-abiding citizens’-capacity for self-defense. Through dominating others’ lives, fearful individuals attempt to restore control to their own. Of course I could be totally off base and Rep. Blodgett could just be an anti-gun ideologue willing to ignore facts about self-defense and crime in order to keep the faith with her constituents and gain political power. This isn’t implausible considering state Sen. Stan Gerzofsky, D-Brunswick, made a couple of references to opinion pieces in his local paper and how they support his opposition to many of these firearms-related bills.

The good news is that the victim disarmament bill LD 578, “An Act to Allow Municipalities To Restrict the Possession of Firearms in Certain Circumstances” was voted “ought not to pass” in committee. Has their been an influx of people brandishing firearms or using them at municipal meetings or while conducting municipal business? Bills designed to expand the places CFP holders can legally carry firearms were tabled in favor of drafting better language and working with stakeholder groups. A fine thing because some definitely needed revision before going to the full Legislature.

For those who believe that the right to self-defense is a fundamental human right, the passage of these bills promise to grant expansions in rights for Concealed Firearms Permit holders that will hopefully make Maine a safer place.

Patrick Corey lives in Windham.