Lawmakers to decide if time has come for universal background checks The bill would require background checks for individual sales to strangers, as well as sales made at local gun shows. Author: Don Carrigan Updated: 8:29 PM EDT May 3, 2021 AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine lawmakers are once again being asked to expand background checks and take other gun control measures, in response to multiple mass shootings across the country over the past month. On Monday, they also heard arguments about banning bump stocks by defining them as machine guns, but background checks are the most prominent part of the debate, as they have been in previous years.