AUGUSTA -- With unanimous support from a legislative committee, a bill to restrict gun sales to minors appears likely to be passed by the full Legislature and sent on to the governor.

That is noteworthy in a state with a long tradition of gun ownership and a strong gun lobby at the State House.

But activists on both sides of the issue say the support for the bill should not be seen as a sign that gun-control advocates have made major gains in the Legislature.

The key point, lawmakers and others say, is that the bill would curtail gun purchases by minors rather than adults. Gun-control advocates ran into stiff opposition, on the other hand, when they tried to impose waiting periods on would-be gun buyers as old as 21 or 22.

The bill sponsored by Democratic Rep. Stan Gerzofsky of Brunswick would outlaw private sales of rifles and shotguns to children younger than 18 without consent from the buyers' parents.

Gov. John Baldacci supports that goal, but he wants to see the final wording of the bill before taking a stand on it, according to his spokesman, David Farmer.

The measure contains no waiting periods, and it would not apply to anyone 18 or older.

The bill, which the Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee endorsed in a 12-0 vote, would build on existing state and federal laws limiting gun sales to children. That has allowed supporters to argue that the proposal doesn't represent a radical change.

Even the powerful Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, which champions the rights of gun owners, does not oppose the bill. It has not endorsed it, either.

Federal law makes it illegal for licensed gun dealers to sell handguns to anyone younger than 21 and so-called long guns to anyone younger than 18.

State law makes it illegal for private sellers -- non-dealers -- to sell handguns to anyone under 18. But it doesn't prohibit private sales of rifles or shotguns.

"I think what this does is, it says the Legislature is taking the issue of guns and minors very seriously," Gerzofsky said. "This is aimed at 16- and 17-year-olds, not at 18- and 19-year olds."

The fact that the bill applies only to minors explains why gun-control advocates view it as a small accomplishment, and why no one sees its likely passage as a sign that the Legislature is abandoning its traditional opposition to major gun-control legislation.

Gun-control advocates have had some successes in the Legislature over the years, but they typically have involved small changes. Waiting periods, bans and expanded background checks all have been rejected.

"I'd love to say we've turned a corner and we're on a roll here ... but I think this is just one more modest, incremental step in trying to address the issue of gun violence," said William Harwood of Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence, a leading gun-control group.

"I think this is still a Legislature that is skeptical" about gun control, he said, but lawmakers are more receptive "when they're dealing with kids with guns."

The parental-consent bill may upset many gun owners because it applies to private sales, but most Mainers support requiring parents to sign off before minors can buy guns, said George Smith of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine.

Support for Gerzofsky's bill "has no impact on any other gun bill," Smith said, because the focus of the bill is so narrow.

"I think that it's a step," but a very small one, said Catherine Crowley of Lewiston, whose 18-year-old son, Larry Belanger Jr., killed himself with a newly purchased shotgun in 2004.

Crowley has been an outspoken, but so far unsuccessful, advocate for waiting periods when young people, including young adults, try to buy guns.

There are no waiting-period bills pending in the Legislature this year.