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Poll results

Gun control doesn't usually make headlines in Mainebiz, but the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, have galvanized attention nationwide around the issue.

The two shootings, on Aug. 3-4, left 32 people dead and 51 injured. That brings the number of number of Americans killed in mass shootings so far this year to nearly 300, with over 1,000 injured.

Although fortunate to escape the kind of tragedy experienced in Texas and Ohio earlier this month, Maine is not immune to gun violence. And its prevention sometimes involves the Maine business community.

Some Maine companies post warnings that offices are gun-free zones. Employees at downtown Portland businesses have engaged in active-shooter training. Last year, Freeport-based retailer L.L. Bean Inc., which has served recreational hunters since its founding in 1912, banned gun sales to anyone under age 21.

But guns are also responsible for Maine jobs. In addition to hunting merchants like Bean, the state is home to at least two gun makers. Windham Weaponry manufactures handguns and rifles, including assault-style carbines, and employs many workers who were with Bushmaster Firearms before that company moved out of state in 2011. A Smith & Wesson factory in Houlton produces handgun parts with a workforce of 120.

Clearly, Mainers and Maine businesses have complicated relationships with guns. So we're curious how your business has responded to calls for managing their use in order to prevent future violence. 

How is your business dealing with the the possibility of gun violence?
We've taken significant anti-gun violence measures, such as active-shooter training (13%, 11 VOTES)
We've made it clear that we're a gun-free zone (11%, 9 VOTES)
We've stepped up employee safety measures in general (7%, 6 VOTES)
We haven't changed much; we're not overly concerned (16%, 13 VOTES)
We don't feel gun control is an issue for our business to deal with (9%, 7 VOTES)
Guns don't kill, people do (44%, 36 VOTES)
Poll Description

Gun control doesn't usually make headlines in Mainebiz, but the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, have galvanized attention nationwide around the issue.

The two shootings, on Aug. 3-4, left 32 people dead and 51 injured. That brings the number of number of Americans killed in mass shootings so far this year to nearly 300, with over 1,000 injured.

Although fortunate to escape the kind of tragedy experienced in Texas and Ohio earlier this month, Maine is not immune to gun violence. And its prevention sometimes involves the Maine business community.

Some Maine companies post warnings that offices are gun-free zones. Employees at downtown Portland businesses have engaged in active-shooter training. Last year, Freeport-based retailer L.L. Bean Inc., which has served recreational hunters since its founding in 1912, banned gun sales to anyone under age 21.

But guns are also responsible for Maine jobs. In addition to hunting merchants like Bean, the state is home to at least two gun makers. Windham Weaponry manufactures handguns and rifles, including assault-style carbines, and employs many workers who were with Bushmaster Firearms before that company moved out of state in 2011. A Smith & Wesson factory in Houlton produces handgun parts with a workforce of 120.

Clearly, Mainers and Maine businesses have complicated relationships with guns. So we're curious how your business has responded to calls for managing their use in order to prevent future violence. 

  • 82 Votes
  • 7 Comments
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7 Comments

  • August 15, 2019

    Gun control doesn't work. Look at Chicago. Guns can't kill anyone unless it is in the hands of someone bent on harming others. If you take guns away from law abiding citizens, you will do nothing to fix the problem. Bad people will still get guns and kill more law abiding citizens because you took away their ability to protect themselves. I think using signs at businesses that say a gun free zone is not a good idea. You are telling a bad person that they will not meet with any resistance if they want to go in and start shooting people.

  • August 14, 2019
    I would support a ban on assault type weapons, in spite of the fact that "guns don't kill people, people do." However, having easy access to these highly destructive weapons of war is putting too much fire power in the hands of those "people who kill people" and makes mass murder too easy.
  • August 14, 2019
    A single airplane crash will kill more people than a year's worth of mass shootings. Do we then ban airliners? 36,000 people die in car crashes annually in the US. Do we now ban cars? Gun protesters scream about banning firearms because its easy! They are unwilling to invest the energy and effort to deal with the fundamental underlying cause of all violence because it is difficult!
  • Kevin Webb
    August 14, 2019

    We will never solve the "gun violence" problem until we address the root cause and that starts by changing the label. It isn't "gun violence", it is a random act of violence often caused by underlying mental instability. Imagine calling the 9/11 attacks "plane violence." That would frame all solutions as having something to do with the planes themselves, not the terrorists piloting them, the motivation behind it, etc. Let's act like adults and have a real conversation - but first stop the political maneuvering and remove the false labels.

  • Janet Wilson
    August 14, 2019

    Our nation clearly has a problem, but I think it has more to do with the way we have devalued life than with access to guns. As businesses, we should have a plan for how to deal with various situations, but I don't think gun control is the answer.