boyscout399
Regular Member
No, this issue is not about state preemption - state preemption statute(s) in Maine, like most states, apply to localities, not state agencies.
As a general matter of administrative law, state agencies cannot just issue regulations willy nilly - their power is confined by the enabling legislation. "Statutes granting power to administrative agencies are strictly construed to permit only those powers given expressly or by necessary implication. An agency or board created by the legislature has powers which are expressly or impliedly conferred on it by statute. Such statutes are generally strictly construed to prevent the exercise of power which is not expressly granted[ii]. In Mayland v. Flitner, 2001 WY 69 (Wyo. 2001), the court held that a statute will be strictly construed when determining the authority granted to an agency. The court further held that any agency decision that falls outside the limits of the statutory guidelines expressed by the legislature is contrary to law and cannot stand." http://administrativelaw.uslegal.co...cies/construction-of-statutes-granting-powers
So if you contend that the Bureau of Capitol Security has the power to regulate gun carry, please cite to authority, e.g., the statute enabling the Bureau of Capitol Security to issue regulations in the first place, and point out where the statute enables the Bureau to regulate gun carry.
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/5/title5ch375sec0.html
Those are the statutes applying to agency rulemaking. Maine gives pretty much unlimited authority for state agencies to make rules, and those rules do hold the weight of law. That's why I wanted to put into the pre-emption statute a clause to limit state agencies rule making powers pertaining to firearms.