Maine gun laws in 2026

Maine has long been one of the easier states in the northeast to own a gun in, and it still is. There is no permit to purchase, no owner identification card, no registration and no limit on magazine capacity. What changed after 2024 is the paperwork at the counter: a waiting period, and a background-check rule for private sales that are advertised. This guide covers buying, owning, carrying and transporting firearms in Maine as of September 2026. It is general information, not legal advice; when it matters, read the statute or ask a Maine attorney.

Buying from a licensed dealer

Every firearm you order from us ships to a federally licensed dealer that you choose at checkout. At the counter you show a valid photo ID, complete ATF Form 4473 and the dealer runs a federal background check. Federal law sets the dealer minimum age at 18 for rifles and shotguns and 21 for handguns. Maine adds no state purchase permit, no firearm owner card and no registration with any state agency.

You do not need a hunting licence, a carry permit or a membership in anything to buy. You do need to be a Maine resident to buy a handgun from a Maine dealer, which is federal law rather than state law, and you can buy a long gun from a dealer in a neighbouring state if the sale complies with both states' rules.

The 72-hour waiting period

This is the part that trips people up. Title 25, section 2016 of the Maine statutes says a seller may not knowingly deliver a firearm to a buyer sooner than 72 hours after the agreement to sell. The waiting period runs at the same time as any background-check delay, so the two do not stack.

The law was passed in 2024 and took effect that August. A federal district judge blocked it in February 2025. In April 2026 the First Circuit Court of Appeals vacated that injunction, holding the law was likely constitutional, and the waiting period took effect again later that month. A petition asking the Supreme Court to take the case was filed in the summer of 2026, so the position could change again. Ask your dealer what they are applying on the day you order.

The statute lists exceptions. The wait does not apply to sales to law enforcement officers, corrections officers or licensed security professionals, to transfers to licensed dealers, to sales between close family members, to antique firearms and curios and relics between licensed collectors, or to any transaction where no background check is required by state or federal law.

Private sales

Maine does not require a background check on every private sale. Since August 2024 it does require one when the sale grew out of an advertisement, meaning a listing posted in print, online, or on radio or television. Those sales have to go through a licensed dealer for the check. A casual sale between two people who know each other, with no advertisement involved, is still legal without paperwork.

• Prohibited buyers: selling or giving a firearm to someone you know may not have one is a crime, and the 2024 law made a reckless transfer to a prohibited person a felony.
• Out-of-state buyers: federal law requires a sale between residents of different states to go through a licensed dealer.
• Records: private sellers are not required to keep records, but a bill of sale protects both sides.

Age rules

At a dealer you must be 21 for a handgun and 18 for a rifle or shotgun. Carrying a concealed handgun without a permit requires you to be 21, with an exception for people 18 and over who are on active duty or honorably discharged from the armed forces or the National Guard. Maine's hunting rules set their own minimum ages and supervision requirements for young hunters, which are separate from the purchase rules.

What Maine does not regulate

There is no state limit on magazine capacity. There is no state ban on semi-automatic rifles by name or feature. There is no registry, no permit to own, no ammunition licence and no state restriction on suppressors beyond the federal process. Standard-capacity magazines and ordinary sporting and defensive rifles ship into Maine the same way they ship anywhere else without a state restriction.

Protective orders

Maine has had a so-called yellow flag law since 2019, which routes a firearm restriction through police protective custody and a medical assessment before a judge sees it. In November 2025 voters approved a citizen initiative allowing a court to temporarily bar someone from having dangerous weapons on a petition by law enforcement or a family or household member. Both systems are now part of Maine law. If either has ever touched you, check your status before you order anything.

Where guns are off limits

Schools and school grounds, courthouses, federal buildings, and private property where the owner says no are the main ones. Carrying while under the influence is a crime, and state parks, wildlife refuges and commercial timberland each have their own rules about carrying and discharging. Baxter State Park in particular allows hunting only in designated areas.

Buying online and shipping to a dealer

Nothing about ordering online changes the law. The gun leaves our supplier under a federal licence, travels to the licensed dealer you named, and you finish the transfer there with the check, the form and the waiting period where it applies. Ammunition, magazines, optics and parts come straight to your door. See our Bangor buying guide for how that plays out locally, our Maine carry guide for permits, and the catalog when you are ready.

General information, not legal advice. Current as of September 2026. Laws change; check the official source before you act.