Gov. Janet Mills has made no secret that she struggled with her decision to allow a 72-hour waiting period for firearms purchases to become law.

But internal record show just how much pressure Mills faced from supporters and opponents in the final days before her announcement last spring, and just how close she was to vetoing the law.

Mills said in April that she was “deeply conflicted” over the proposal, and her decision to let it become law came as a surprise to some gun rights advocates. Emails and internal records obtained by the Portland Press Herald and Maine Public through Freedom of Access Act requests shed new light on the efforts to sway Mills and the fact that neither side knew what her decision would be.

“If we are lucky, she will allow it to pass without her signature,” the bill’s sponsor wrote in an email after a meeting with Mills at the State House days before her announcement.

While Mills decided against a veto to the relief of advocates, she also did not formally sign the bill into law. Under Maine law, bills approved by the Legislature and not vetoed by the governor become law after 10 days, excluding Sundays.

Six months later, critics of the law said they are still planning to file a lawsuit against the waiting period. And state officials are tracking a federal lawsuit challenging a waiting period in Vermont that could have implications for Maine.

The waiting period was one of several safety measures brought forward after the mass shooting in Lewiston last October, although it wasn’t part of a package proposed by Mills herself.

Advocates who pushed for the law argued it will help prevent further tragedies, especially suicides, by preventing people from quickly obtaining guns while experiencing a crisis.

Both the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of Maine, a group advocating for gun rights, urged Mills to reject the proposal on grounds it would violate constitutional rights, harm the economy and endanger people who need quick access to firearms to ensure their safety, according to letters the groups wrote to Mills.

The Legislature approved the bill on April 17, but by narrow margins. The final vote was 73-70 in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, the bill passed 18-17 after Democrats employed an infrequently-used procedural move allowing the votes of two absent senators to be taken into account.

From the time lawmakers gave final approval to the legislation until Mills’ announcement on April 29 that she would allow it to become law without her signature, the governor faced pressure from the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of Maine urging her to veto the bill.

In an April 22 letter to the governor, Justin Davis, state director for the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, told Mills that the waiting period would “decimate Maine’s hunting tourism industry, stifle economic growth and greatly infringe on the Second Amendment rights of Maine citizens.”

Davis also argued that the waiting period would not have done anything to stop the mass shooting in Lewiston.

“Gun control advocates from around the country have attempted to hijack Maine’s legislative process to pass national benchmark gun-control in Maine,” Davis wrote. “These bills, including the proposed 72-hour waiting period, have no ties to the tragedy in October and would infringe the Second Amendment rights of Mainers while causing irreparable harm to the state’s economy.”

Gun Owners of Maine also argued against the bill in a letter on April 24. “This arbitrary time frame was suggested without any basis in factual evidence, impedes women from defending themselves, harms small businesses and our hunting sports industry,” it said.

But Mills also heard from supporters of the measure as she was coming to her decision, including some key lawmakers.

On April 18, Mills’ staff received paperwork that had been filled out by Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuk in which Sauschuk wrote he was surprised by close votes on the bill in the Legislature because it’s “a solid public safety approach.”

“Waiting periods have proven to be an effective tool in reducing gun related suicides, which account for approximately 89% of our firearm fatalities in Maine,” Sauschuk wrote in a so-called legislative appraisal form provided to the governor’s office.

A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety did not respond to a request for comment on the form.

On April 25, an intern in the governor’s office shared with her chief legal counsel a draft veto letter expressing concerns about the waiting period having a negative impact on Maine’s hunting and outdoors industries, not meeting the needs of people who find themselves in urgent need of self-defense, such as domestic violence victims, and driving people to seek firearms through unauthorized sales.

Ogden, the governor’s spokesperson, said the draft was not requested by the governor but directed by the legal counsel, Jerry Reid, who “asked the intern if he would prepare a draft letter as an exercise to provide the intern with experience in writing such communications.”

Reid responded to the draft in an email later in the day on the 25th, thanking the intern for putting it together.

“It’s just what I was envisioning,” he wrote. “Like I said, I don’t yet know whether we will need a letter, and if so, how it will be drafted. It may be that the Governor herself takes the lead on this one. Regardless, this gives us a good place to start and I appreciate your work on it.”

A day later, on Friday, April 26, Mills met with Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, the bill’s sponsor, and Assistant Senate Majority Leader Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, a co-sponsor of the bill.

In an interview last week about the meeting, Rotundo said she made her case to the governor to support the bill, though she left the meeting unsure about whether she would.

Those doubts also were reflected in a memo Rotundo wrote after the meeting.

“If we are lucky, she will allow it to pass without her signature,” Rotundo later wrote in response to an email from a staff member in the Office of the Senate President asking if they should plan for a signing ceremony. “Not sure this is anything she will be celebrating, but thanks for asking!”

It’s not clear what other conversations Mills may have had over that weekend.  A copy of Mills’ calendar provided to the Press Herald has most weekend appointments blacked out because they did not involve official business, a staff member said.

On Monday, April 29, the governor issued a written statement saying she would allow the bill to become law without her signature.

“I have spent the past ten days – the maximum allowed under the Maine Constitution – considering L.D. 2238, reviewing testimony both for and against, and speaking to proponents and opponents alike,” she wrote. “I have thought long and hard about the potential impacts of this bill, and I am deeply conflicted. I recognize that there are people of good faith on both sides, with strongly and sincerely held beliefs. This is an emotional issue for many, and there are compelling arguments for and against.”

After receiving Mills’ announcement, a grateful Rotundo wrote an email to Mills’ legislative director acknowledging how difficult the issue was for the governor.

“I will be reaching out to the Governor,” she wrote. “I know this was not an easy decision for her to make. I am confident that her concerns can be addressed and I am confident that the bill will save lives and heartache for families in Maine.”

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if the law stands up to legal challenges.

Gun Owners of Maine President Laura Whitcomb said the group is still involved in an effort to bring a lawsuit over the waiting period, although nothing has been filed yet.

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