Firearms regulation has been a hot-button issue in the past few years, with Second Amendment enthusiasts adamant about protecting their rights, finding themselves at odds sometimes with gun control advocates. Proposals for change have been brought up at both extremes, from banning concealed carry to eliminating all permitting requirements for it, and hackles were raised earlier this year when the concealed carry list was to be made public.

While all of those issues are up for debate, the current process for obtaining a concealed-carry permit in Maine could use some significant revisions, and we’re glad to see the State of Maine is taking a responsible approach to revamping it.

A subcommittee of the Legislature has been working on an overhaul of the concealed-carry permitting process and will continue that work in January, but some of their proposals have already come to light. Among them are: a uniform, statewide permit; creating a database of all permit holders; and allowing only state police and municipalities with full-time law enforcement agencies to issue permits, according to a recent Associated Press report.

The changes should improve safety and provide police with better records.

Under the current system, a resident seeking a concealed-carry permit must apply through the state police, their local police chief or their municipal officials.

If it’s left up to the town officials, 44 percent of the 50 municipalities surveyed don’t do any sort of mental health check on the applicant, according to the Maine State Police. The process seems to hearken back to a time when everyone in a small town knew their neighbor and could vouch for his or her character. That’s not so much the case today for town leaders, but even if the applicant is known to them, that doesn’t mean the selectmen are aware of any mental health issues that might predispose the applicant to misuse a gun.

Selectmen are not qualified to judge whether a person should or should not be allowed to carry concealed, and we agree with the proposal to leave it up to law enforcement. A bill introduced last legislative session, to give the state police sole authority to issue the permits, was estimated to cost $750,000. By allowing police departments to also have that authority, this proposal should significantly reduce that cost, sending only those applicants who live in communities without police departments to the state police level.

As for the subcommittee’s proposal for a uniform, statewide permit and a statewide database of permit holders, those are perhaps the best ideas, and should draw no controversy. The current mish-mash of municipally issued permits makes it difficult for police officers outside of the area to know if they are legitimate. As well, there is no communication about whether a person was denied a permit in another town. Since the permits are legitimate statewide, and honored across state borders in some cases, it makes sense that they should be uniform and issued at the state level.

The debate over these changes is sure to be heated in a Legislature where support was strong for Waterboro Rep. Aaron Libby’s “Constitutional Carry” bill. The bill would have allowed Mainers to carry concealed weapons without a permit, allowed loaded weapons to be in a vehicle without a permit and allowed people to shoot weapons from their vehicle in the defense of life or property.

The bill failed in June by only one vote in the House of Representatives, 74-73, leaving in place the 96-year-old law requiring a concealed-carry permit.

Juggling individual rights with the rights of the greater community to be safe leads to difficult questions. Should a U.S. citizen be stripped of his or her right to bear arms due to a history of mental health struggles or because their previous municipality denied their application?

These types of situations call for balance, thoughtfulness and a resistance to knee-jerk reactions. The Legislature may choose to deal only with the current system and its requirements, or it may choose to debate the mental health checks and the permitting process altogether.

Either way, we hope our legislators can work together to find an appropriate, fiscally responsible way to move forward that honors the rights of all the state’s residents.

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Today’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.