United States Attorney
District of Maine

MAINE'S PROJECT SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS RECEIVES NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Portland, Maine—United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Maine's Project Safe Neighborhoods anti-gun violence initiative (PSN Maine) received the Outstanding Media Outreach Campaign Award for its Gun Sellers Awareness Campaign (GSAC) at the National PSN Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana earlier today. Recipients of the national achievement awards were chosen from a large pool of nominations submitted by U.S. Attorneys' Offices across the nation.

In an effort to educate lawful Maine gun owners of the consequences of selling firearms to prohibited persons in private sales, PSN Maine launched the GSAC in 2005 in partnership with the Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence, the Maine Department of Public Safety and the Sportman's Alliance of Maine. Through these unique partnerships and non-traditional media, the GSAC encourages Maine gun owners to request a Gun Seller Safety Kit intended to provide guidance on the most responsible way to dispose of firearms in unregulated private sales. In 2007, with the development of a formal advertisement for gun seller safety kits produced by PSN Maine's Media Partner, CD & M Communications of Portland, and folders developed and printed by URSUS Productions, formerly of Waterville, PSN Maine began distributing thousands of kits to Maine gun owners.

The gun seller safety kit disseminates accurate and engaging information about the hazards of selling firearms to prohibited persons. In addition to the kits, the GSAC provides this education through the use of print ads in sporting and hunting publications where firearm sales are advertised, as well as television advertisements.

The target audience of the campaign is Maine gun sellers who may engage in private firearm sales. Given that Maine has a large sporting community and many lawful gun owners, it is a source state for firearms. Local classified magazines in Maine allow gun owners to advertise the sale of firearms. Maine gun sellers who engage in private sales are therefore vulnerable to prohibited persons attempting to purchase their firearms, often from outside Maine unlawfully without the knowledge of the seller. The GSAC is aimed at addressing the significant problem of firearms and illegal drug trafficking between Maine and Massachusetts. Today, the gun seller kits continue to be requested and distributed to the public daily.

To find out about more about PSN, please visit the PSN Maine website at: http://www.justice.gov/usao/me/psn/index.html.