Governor O’Malley of Maryland has put forth a gun proposal that would include an assault weapons ban, limits on magazine capacity, universal background checks, registration of firearms and fingerprinting of gun owners. This assault on the Second Amendment has spurred thousands of citizens to travel to Annapolis to attend the hearings before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, last month, and before the House Judiciary Committee, Friday.
SoMdNews.com reported that Friday’s hearings lasted from noon until almost 4 a.m.
The Maryland Sheriff’s Association was one of the groups testifying at Friday’s hearing.
On major gun bills of interest, Maryland Sheriff’s Association President Sheriff Mike Lewis (Wicomico) and Sheriff Tim Cameron (St. Mary’s – serving as Chair of the Maryland Sheriff’s Legislative Committee) testified in opposition to provisions of gun legislation that adversely impacted gun ownership, sales, transfer, licensing, and other prohibitions that restricted a qualified citizen’s right to purchase or own a firearm.
Long, but worth listening to in full:
The Maryland Sheriffs, as Maryland Constitutional officers, had previously met and discussed the current gun bills; assessing their public impact and constitutionality. In formulating a stance on these bills, the Maryland Sheriffs reinforced the need for thorough and complete background checks to prevent those who are disqualified from owning or purchasing a firearm. Further, the Sheriffs supported efforts to fully identify and screen those persons with mental health needs who pose a risk to themselves or others from owning or possessing firearms. Another tangent of their position involved the full and effective prosecution of all current firearms statutes that involve gun crimes, and in particular those gun crimes with aggravating factors of drugs or acts of violence. Measures to assure the full implementation of sentencing with the maximum penalties applied for gun crimes is of critical importance for the removal of these criminals from our communities. The stance and proclamation of the Maryland Sheriff’s Association in regard to current gun legislation and related public safety aspects is attached to this release.
March, 11, 2013 at 10:47 am
It is coming abundantly clear that the “only” thing standing between complete tyranny and total gun confiscation is the Sheriffs across the nation with a few Police Chiefs. O’Malley is most often compared with obozo and is considered to be the white version, which he considers a compliment. He is the former Mayor of Baltimore where during his time in office crime was rampant and out of control.
I much admire the positions of the Sheriffs and the recent collection of Gun manufactures who have decided to self impose a ban of sales from their companies to any State, Organization, or Law Enforcement Officer from a state who supports the restriction of a individuals right to bear arms. Many of them in the bastions of dopey liberalism are seriously considering moving their operations from their current locations to a more friendly [red state] state. Of course this means that their current employees will be out of work and the communities will lose all of those positions for their local economies. There are consequences for dopey liberalism.
March, 11, 2013 at 9:50 pm
Participating in a gun buy back because you believe that the criminals have too many guns is like having yourself castrated because you believe that the neighbors have too many kids…..
March, 11, 2013 at 10:15 pm
Good one.