It seems that Maine’s Governor Janet Mills (D), who was just elected this past November, signed a bill into law which protects established shooting ranges from being shutdown by nearby residents via noise ordinances, frivolous lawsuits, etc. A few years back, some residents in Cape Elizabeth, who had built their new homes close to the Spurwink Rod & Gun Club, tried to litigate Spurwink out of existence. This was outrageous since Spurwink is one of the oldest shooting ranges in Maine, and had been established for close to a century before these folks built their homes nearly on top of it. You would think that if you were building a house, that you would research the area surrounding the home site. For instance, if you don’t want to smell chicken manure on a daily basis, then building one within 100 yards of a chicken farm would be ill-advised. Anyway, it is heartening to see this kind of legislation being supported by a new Governor that many of us feared would be vehemently anti-gun rights. This was a good start, but I will still be guarded in my optimism for future pro-gun laws in Maine as long as the Democrats (who, let’s face it, are typically anti-2A) remain in control of the Blaine House and Legislature.
this is a problem for lots of ‘rural’ activities when cities encroach. When I lived in So. Cal I’d sometimes drive through Chino - it used to be all dairies and other agricultural land but the housing developments have hop-scotched their way across the area.
On the Chino town borders on all the main roads they posted “Chino Dairy Preserve” signs - local ordinance that if you move into a nice division right next to a dairy, you can’t petition the city to have the dairy shut down because of stink and flies. “You knew that dairy was there when you bought the house, so live with it.” I don’t know if they still have that, but I loved seeing it.
I think that sort of thinking should be the rule. Clearly Janet Mills is getting it right 
Yes, Governor Mills definitely had it right on this one. It’s a trend that I hope to see her continue with. Maine, along with New Hampshire and “kinda sorta” Vermont, are basically a pro-Second Amendment island in the anti-gun Northeast. We are surrounded by Massachusetts to the south, New York to the west, and Canada to the north. Vermont is already crumbling due to more and more NY influence, as last year they made the sale and purchase of magazines with more than a 10 round capacity illegal. I hope that we can continue to persevere in this area. As for the Chino Dairy Preserve ordinance that you mentioned, it is almost surprising that a sensible law like that could even exist in California!
Win for the good guys, it may be one of the few we have here in Maine over the next several years.
Not sure if you are aware of them, but the Gun Owners of Maine is a very active group in the state that has done a lot of good in advancing pro gun policy.
Thank you Maine for protecting the gun ranges