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GOVERNOR MILLS CLOSED UNESSENTIAL BUSINESSES FOR TWO WEEKS. >> IN AUBURN, I WAS TOLD TODAY THEY WERE WAITING FOR CLARIFICATION FROM THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE ON WHETHER HER EXECUTIVE ORDER APPLIES TO GUN-ONLY RETAIL STORES. JOHN REID, OWNER OF J.T. REID GUN SHOP LOCATED ON COURT STREET FOR THE PAST 30 YEARS, HE SAYS HE AND OTHER GUN SHOP OWNERS HE TALKS TO WERE CONFUSED BY THE GOVERNOR'S ORDER. REI SAID SOUGHT GUIDANCE FROM LOCAL OFFICIALS. >> THEY INITIALLY TOLD US LOCK THE DOORS. FEW HOURS LATER, THEY CAME AND TOLD US TO REOPEN. >> GUN SHOPS ARE NOT ON THE LONG LIST OF ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES PERMITTED TO REMAIN OPEN FOR NEXT TWO WEEKS, BUT ALSO NOT EXPLICITLY ON THE NONESSENTIAL LIST. >> WE DID NOT KNOW WHETHER WE WERE GOING TO BE IN VIOLATION BY OPENING OR NOT. >> THE HEAD OF THE PRO GUN, MAINE SPORTSMAN ALLIANCE, WITH 8000 MEMBERS TOLD ME GUN SHOPS SHOULD BE ON THE ESSENTIAL LIST. THIS AFTERNOON, GOVERNOR'S PRESS SECRETARY INFORMED ME STORES THAT ARE EXCLUSIVELY SELL SPORTING GOODS, MEANING GUNS, ARE NOT REGARDED ESSENTIAL. >> I AM GOING TO DO WHAT THE GOVERNMENT AND POLICE DEPARTMENT TELL US TO DO. >> WHICH PROBABLY MEANS GUN-ONLY SHOPS LIKE J.T. REID'S

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Gov. Janet Mills has clarified that stores that only sell guns are classified as "non-essential," therefore they are not exempt from the governor's order to close for two weeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The governor's office clarified this in a statement provided to WMTW Thursday afternoon.On Tuesday, Mills issued an executive order requiring “nonessential” businesses, including most retail stores, theaters, gyms, hair and nail salons, to close from yesterday, Wednesday, March 25, until April 8. The “essential” list of businesses permitted to stay open includes grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, banks, and laundromats. “Gun shops should be considered essential,” David Trahan, president of the pro-gun rights Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, which has 8,000 members, said in a telephone interview. “We have a Second Amendment right to protect ourselves and our property.”But in response to questions from WMTW, Mills Press Secretary Lindsay Crete said in a written statement that gun-only shops did not meet the criteria of “essential infrastructure industries” as defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.Crete said, “Entities that primarily or exclusively sell sporting goods are not regarded as essential under this guidance or under the Executive Order.”On the other hand, stores like Walmart, which sell essential goods like food and medicine, “are open and continue to sell firearms,” Crete said.In Auburn, Mayor Jason Levesque and other officials said they had been waiting for the clarification. John Reid, owner of J.T. Reid’s gun shop, located on the city’s Court Street for the past 30 years, said his local officials had previously offered conflicting guidance.“They initially told us, ‘Lock the doors.’ A few hours later, they came and told us to reopen,” Reid said, which police chief Jason Moen and assistant city manager Phil Crowell confirmed. “We did not know whether we were going to be in violation by opening or not,” Reid said. “I am going to do what our government and our police department tell us to do.”Which probably means J.T. Reid’s and gun-only shops like it across Maine will need to close for the next 12 days.“Governor Mills did not arrive at the decision to limit some businesses lightly, because she knew it would create significant difficulties for Maine people and businesses,” Crete said. “But Maine is confronting an unprecedented challenge with COVID-19, and the executive order was necessary to mitigate the spread of this highly-contagious virus.”