Carroll Commissioners to Testify in Annapolis Against Proposed Gun Bill

Carroll County Commissioners Richard Rothschild and Robin Frazier will be in Annapolis this afternoon to testify in opposition to SB 281, otherwise known as the Firearms Safety Act of 2013.

The Board of Carroll County Commissioners recently voted unanimously to oppose SB 281.

If passed, the bill would make several changes to existing gun laws including tougher restrictions on authorization for a person to wear, carry, or transport a handgun. The act would also designate specified firearms as assault weapons and prohibit a person from transporting assault weapons into Maryland, according to a county news release.

Read the proposed bill here.

Commissioners Rothschild and Frazier will be testifying in opposition to this bill at hearing in Annapolis today, Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 1 p.m.

Commissioner Rothschild said the bill had little to do with safety.

“In Baltimore last year, only 2 of the 217 homicides were committed with a long gun, and there is no indication either of these would be affected by the bill," Rothschild said in open session last week. "Furthermore, in the consumer market, there is no such thing as an 'assault' weapon. Fully automatic weapons are not available to the general public."

“The Second Amendment is a restrictive covenant against government," Rothschild said. "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Commissioner Haven Shoemaker added, “The majority of crimes committed with guns are by criminals that already have a record.”

Commissioner Doug Howard said lawmakers should focus on the criminals instead of more gun laws.

“There are already an excessive number of gun regulations on the books and the state should focus on criminal activity and not infringe on the rights of law abiding citizens," Howard said.

Delegate Justin Ready (R-Carroll) said in an email to constituents earlier this week that he opposes SB 281 although he does believe "there are some worthy ideas to explore on how to keep mentally unstable people from obtaining firearms."

"To be clear, I oppose further restriction on the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns," Ready said. "It seems wrong to me that we would do this because of the actions of a handful of deranged individuals who committed evil actions."

Ready offers a breakdown of "O'Malley's Gun Control Bill", or SB 281, on his website.

Do you believe Maryland needs stricter gun control laws? Tell us in comments.