How buying a gun in Calais works
Pick an FFL dealer near you that accepts shipped transfers and name it at checkout. We confirm their license and ship the firearm to them. Ammunition, optics and parts ship straight to your door where Maine law allows.
Maine has no permit to purchase, no owner identification card and no gun registration. You order, the firearm goes to a licensed dealer, and at the counter you show photo ID, fill out ATF Form 4473 and the dealer runs a federal background check. Maine adds a 72-hour waiting period between the agreement and the handover under Title 25, section 2016; it was blocked by a federal court in 2025, then allowed to take effect again in April 2026 while the case is appealed, so ask your dealer where it stands. Dealers sell long guns from age 18 and handguns from 21.
Dealers in these communities all work for Calais-area buyers:
- Baileyville
- Baring
- Robbinston
- Princeton
- Alexander
- Charlotte
- Perry
- Pembroke
- Eastport
Carrying a gun in Washington County
Maine has allowed permitless concealed carry since October 2015. If you are 21 or older and not barred from having a firearm you may carry concealed without a permit, and 18 to 20 year olds may do so if they are on active duty or honorably discharged from the armed forces or National Guard. Anyone carrying without a permit must tell an officer about the handgun at a stop. The optional concealed handgun permit is issued by your town police chief, or by the Chief of the Maine State Police for towns without a department and for nonresidents. It runs four years and needs proof of a handgun safety course.
Hunting near Calais
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife runs deer by Wildlife Management District, of which there are 29. In 2026 the firearms season on deer opens with a residents-only Saturday on October 31 and runs November 2 to November 28, with a youth day October 23 and 24 and the statewide muzzleloader season November 30 to December 5. Sunday hunting is not allowed anywhere in Maine. Any centerfire rifle is legal; .17 and .22 rimfire cartridges are not, except .22 rimfire magnum. Muzzleloaders must be .40 caliber or larger. Two pieces of hunter orange are required.
Calais is in WMD 27 with WMD 28 starting just west of town. Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge covers a large block either side of Route 1 and is open to hunting under refuge rules.
Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge is famous for its woodcock research, the St. Croix flowage holds ducks, and the alder runs behind the blueberry barrens hold grouse into December.
Public shooting ranges near Calais
Maine's wildlife department runs only two public shooting ranges, at Summerhaven in Augusta and at Fryeburg on the Major Sanborn Wildlife Management Area, and both are free when a range safety officer is on duty. Everything else on the department's range finder is a private club with its own membership and hours, so call ahead before you drive.
Source: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shooting range pages, September 2026. Distances are approximate; call or check the agency site before you drive out.