Thursday, April 4, 2013

So Much For Being "The Free State"


One of the state nicknames for Maryland is the Free State. With the passage of draconian gun control by the Maryland House of Delegates yesterday, that nickname should be called into question. The bill in question, SB 281, now returns to the State Senate for concurrence.





The bill would ban the sale of semi-automatic rifles with cosmetics the proponents don't like; would require training, a license, and fingerprinting to purchase a handgun; and would ban the sale and transfer of  all magazines with greater than 10 round capacity. The bill would also require the registration of all currently possessed "assault pistols" and "assault weapons".  Failure to do so would result in fines and an up to one year prison term. Maryland Shall Issue has an excellent summary of the provisions of the bill here.

The NRA-ILA issued an alert last night urging Marylanders to contact their state senator and Senate President Mike Miller. As they noted, this will be the last chance to stop this legislation. Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-MD) has been a major proponent of gun control legislation and will sign this bill if passed by the Senate.

UPDATE: The Maryland Senate gave final approval to the bill yesterday and it has been sent to Gov. Martin O'Malley for his signature. At this point, the only thing that could delay its implementation is if opponents gather enough signatures to get it put on the ballot in November 2014 as a referendum item.

4 comments:

  1. You know, there's some more "unintended consequences" to all these new "Anti- Gun Laws" :The Commerce Clause.

    You see, I have a Friend who does Internet Military Surplus Sales for his Store here in Ohio. He's a Small Mom and Pop, and he sells Legal Military Surplus all around the World. But every time one of these VolksRepubliks Bans something like Magazines and other Firearm Accessories, he has to Update his Website with new Disclaimers that he can no longer Sell such Items to those States, because he doesn't DARE take the Chance that he can be Charged and an Arrest Warrant Issued for selling something THIS week that's Illegal that was perfectly Legal LAST week.

    So far he's lost a Good Half Dozen Regulars because of these New Laws and the Fact that they live in the Wrong State.

    But what do the Anti-Gunners care about "Collateral Damage" in other States.

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    1. @Les: They don't. And they don't care about the collateral damage in their own states.

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  2. The "collateral damage" in Maryland includes the loss of Beretta and the risk of losing at least two other firms: LWRCi and Adcor, both of whom are manufacturers of high-end AR-15s. LWRC did more than $120 Million in the first three months of 2013, and Adcor is one of the four final entrants in the Army's contest for a future carbine. The combined business from just those three firms is more than $250 Million this year, and at stake are more than 1,000 jobs in places like Baltimore City, Eastern Maryland and Southern Maryland.

    The Governor does not care. His politics trump all people, everywhere. His only goal now is getting the photo op with Obama and running for the Democratic nomination. Trust me when I say America does not want this man as President.

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