Sunday, April 14, 2013
Readers react to Westminster’s decision to reject a voluntary gun turn-in program.
Despite the Westminster police chief's support of a voluntary gun turn-in program, the town's Common Council rejected the idea, with one councilman saying the program amounts to "going down the whole gun control path." Patch readers had a variety of reactions to the rejection of the voluntary gun turn-in program, which we highlight below. Do you think the Westminster Common Council did the right thing? Tell us in comments. “These type of events make good press--pictures of piles of guns turned in--but they don't actually solve any problems. People just get rid of rusty old guns they had lying around in basements that they wanted to get rid of anyway. Few if any people turn in actual working guns, and I doubt any criminals are suddenly …
Friday, April 5, 2013
Do local law enforcement officials believe Maryland's gun bill will help them keep Carroll County safe?
Police leadership in Carroll County weighed in on a gun bill passed by Maryland senators Thursday evening. Col. Phil Kasten of the Carroll County Sheriff's Department said that he expects if the bill becomes law that it will be challenged in the courts. "The constitutionality of the legislation is at question," Kasten said. "I anticipate if the bills are passed, that their legality will likely be challenged." The bill bans more than 40 types of guns and prohibits persons who are involuntarily committed from owning a gun. Also included in the bill is a controversial requirement for all future purchasers of regulated firearms to be fingerprinted and licensed. The bill also prohibits the possession of ammunition magazines that hold more …
Thursday, April 4, 2013
The 28-19 vote helps Gov. Martin O'Malley's top legislative priority avoid a conference committee some believed would kill the legislation.
Maryland senators voted Thursday night to approve an amended gun control bill rather than send the legislation to conference committee. Senators approved the bill by a vote of 28-19 just one day after the House debated the bill for 10 hours over two-days and added 17 amendments to a bill previously approved by the Senate. The bill was a major component of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s legislative priorities for the 90-day legislative session. “The fact is, the Firearm Safety Act of 2013 provides no safety,” said Sen. EJ Pipkin, Senate Minority Leader. The concurrence means that the bill goes to Gov. Martin O’Malley for his signature rather than to a conference committee with just four days left in the session. Sen. Brian Frosh, a Montgomery …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
The amended bill, passed by a 78-61 vote, will go back to the Senate and possibly a conference committee.
The Maryland House of Delegates Wednesday passed gun control legislation proposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley by a vote of 78-61. The amended bill bans 40 kinds of rifles including the AR15, requires fingerprinting and licensing of all purchasers of new guns and broadens the law prohibiting firearms purchases by anyone who is involuntarily committed because of mental illness. The bill was a major component of O'Malley's legislative package announced at the beginning of the 90-day session. The House of Delegates debated the bill for nearly 10 hours over two days. The amended bill will return to the Senate. The bill could go to a conference committee if the Senate does not accept the changes made by the House. Both the House and Senate must …
Maryland lawmakers will likely vote on a gun bill this week.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, April 3
By LUCAS HIGH, Capital News Service An hour before what could be the biggest day in the months-long gun control saga, the State House and Lawyers Mall were oddly quiet. The hundreds of Second Amendment activists and gun control advocates who have organized raucous rallies to mark each legislative milestone in the gun control bill’s march to Gov. Martin O’Malley’s desk were mostly absent from the capital as the House prepared for it final debate on HB 294 at 4 p.m. Tuesday. O’Malley’s bill would ban the purchase of assault rifles, reduce maximum ammunition magazine size from 20 rounds to 10 and require handgun purchasers to submit digital fingerprints prior to licensing. Do you think this proposed gun bill will have a significant impact on …
A Georgia town passed a law this week requiring citizens to own guns and ammo, do you think this is something local towns should consider?
To be clear, Westminster's Common Council is not considering such a law at this time. But the town of Nelson, GA passed a law this week requiring citizens to own a gun and ammunition according to a NBC News report. Maryland lawmakers continue to debate a gun bill in Annapolis as Gov. Martin O'Malley tries to make stricter gun laws for the state. O’Malley’s bill would ban the purchase of assault rifles, reduce maximum ammunition magazine size from 20 rounds to 10 and require handgun purchasers to submit digital fingerprints prior to licensing. Legislators are expected to vote on the bill later this week. According to the report, the new law in Nelson, GA requires the head of every household to own a gun and ammo to provide security for …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
By LUCAS HIGH and ALLEN ETZLER, Capital News Service
The Senate approved a series of amendments Wednesday to Gov. Martin O’Malley’s gun control legislation that would ease some of the proposed restrictions on gun ownership while maintaining the major aspects of the bill. The Senate heard amendments to the bill until 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. A final vote on the bill in the Senate is expected at 8 a.m. Thursday. Among the changes to O’Malley’s proposal, the amended bill narrows the definition of what constitutes an assault weapon, doubles the lifespan of a valid handgun license and reduces both the number of hours of training and the licensing fee required to purchase a handgun. The bill also clarifies which people who seek mental health services are disqualified from owning a gun. Despite the …
Saturday, February 23, 2013
By ALLEN ETZLER, Capital News Service
- NEWS
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Saturday, February 23
The Maryland Senate is set to vote on Gov. Martin O’Malley’s package of new gun legislation in the coming week. If approved, the law would ban assault rifles, decrease the maximum capacity of ammunition magazines from 20 to 10, update handgun licensing requirements to include digital fingerprinting, improve school security and restrict the ability of people who have been involuntarily committed to psychiatric facilities from purchasing guns. But gun restrictions are not new in Maryland, dating back to at least 1886, when the legislature passed a bill stating the only way someone could carry a firearm, concealed or not, was if the person was a public official who needed a firearm as part of their official equipment. Five decades later, both…
Thursday, February 7, 2013
A state senator wants a new state bird; one man's technolgical fortress is his castle; and the Senate president feels snubbed by Obama.
It's not a statue in front of the office building that bares his name but Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller did receive a bust of himself this week courtesy of the Regional Manufacturing Institute. Sen. Kathy Klausmeier, a Perry Hall Democrat, gave a sneak preview of the small, light-weight bust of Miller moments before presenting it to the Senate's top dog. "You can't have too much Mike Miller," Klausmeier said. The technology is similar to what was used in a scene of Jurassic Park 3 where a copy of a velociraptor's larynx was recreated. The institute offered legislators in Annapolis the opportunity to have themselves scanned into a computer and get busts of themselves. Miller seemed impressed with the petite bust but joked that it …
Hundreds head to Annapolis to testify for and against a package of bills that would tighten gun regulations in Maryland.
Gun control supporters and opponents descended on a hearing room in Annapolis to debate a package of bills that is likely to be as divisive as any issue during the 90-day General Assembly session. Gov. Martin O'Malley said his legislation was driven by the shootings in Newtown, CT. and more than 500 shooting deaths in Maryland last year. "We are still losing too many of our citizens to gun violence," O'Malley said. "There's no such thing in our state as a spare American." Hundreds gathered outside the State House Wednesday morning, hours before O'Malley was to testify, to rally against the proposed laws. A line of people waiting to testify stretched outside the Senate office building. More than 500 people signed up to testify even though …
JoAnn Nicholls
8:13 am on Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Stevie, you bring such an aray of intelligent factual data into the discussion....what do you teach???? Parroting 101? Can't you pathetic drones be a tiny bit original? more ›