Gun Bill Update: House Passes Amended Version

Dark Clouds on the Horizon…By Delegate Mike McDermott

After two significant days of prolonged debate and scores of attempts at amendments, the House of Delegates finally passed the O’Malley-Brown Gun Bill on a 78-61 vote Wednesday evening. It was introduced to the floor by the Baltimore City Delegation, which curtly announced in a heated exchange that they would oppose any amendments to the legislation. Most attempts to mitigate it were indeed thwarted by the Democrat supermajority.

At the beginning of Tuesday’s session, I was able to pass a “friendly” floor amendment that altered the bill’s firearms qualification component to a “firearms orientation,” addressing safety and proper handling. This significant change minimizes the time it would take for future applicants to fulfill the training component for a Handgun Qualification License. There were also a few lesser, technical amendments adopted. Here is a link for the 27 amendments offered during the second reader debate on the House floor.

While all of the amendments were thoughtful, a couple stirred particularly lively debate. One offered by Delegate Mike Smigiel (R-Cecil) sought to eliminate special credits received by inmates incarcerated for gun-related crimes. Delegates strongly emphasized that the Governor’s gun bill did nothing to address gun criminals, but focused solely on creating more regulations that could turn law-abiding citizens into criminals. Another amendment which I offered sought to correct an anomaly in the law, which prohibits an off-duty police officer from being armed while on school grounds. At a time when we are trying to place more police on our campuses, getting rid of this ridiculous law made a lot of sense. Sadly, it was resisted by several delegates from Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, whose reasoning was nothing short of absurd. Imagine, in light of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre, lawmakers arguing that the presence of an armed police officer in a school is somehow a “bad thing” to be avoided.

Apparently an overwhelming response to the rejection of my amendment prompted a change of heart in the Governor’s office, and with some adjustments, it was adopted the next day. We had hoped to have at least a 24-hour period to review the changes in the bill, but the leadership had it on the fast track. Republicans continued to make efforts to soften it by offering an additional 21 amendments, some of which would have eliminated sections dealing with the banning of specific firearms or the licensing of those wishing to purchase them.

Hours passed into the night as each drafted amendment was presented, debated, and voted on by the House. Ultimately, the bill was altered following the adoption of all committee amendments and a very few floor amendments, but its significant flaws such as gun owner licensing, rifle bans, and magazine capacity restrictions remained unchanged.

Here is a summation of the arguments offered for and against the bill:

Those who hail from the urban block counties (Baltimore City, Prince George’s, and Montgomery) all spoke glowingly about how the legislation would reduce violence and gun crimes. They spoke about the funerals they attend and the manner of death that many in their districts suffer at the hands of bad guys using firearms. It was clear that they view guns as a threat and that they see no need for anyone to own certain types of firearms. Statistically, they could offer no evidence of a straw purchase problem in Maryland, but that did not stop them from claiming that the bill would put an end to it by requiring folks to get fingerprinted before purchasing a regulated firearm. They brandished their ignorance of firearms for all to see, and displayed a fear of anyone bearing one - including the police.
Those who reside in the rest of the state had quite a different view and passionately explained their desire to hold sacred the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. Many quoted the Founding Fathers as they addressed the body, and spoke against the provisions in the bill that would turn upstanding citizens into potential criminals, while doing nothing to stop real lawbreakers. In essence, the legislation will only keep law-abiding Marylanders from having access to some very popular firearms that have been deemed too bad and scary.

I stated clearly that there are two Marylands, holding views on firearms that are polar opposites: one of fear and one of acceptance. I also challenged my metropolitan colleagues, pointing out that assault weapon bans imposed in the 1990s for ten years coincided with some of the worst years for Baltimore City homicides. Clearly, bans do not lower crime. Conversely, I pointed out that the parts of the country that have increased the liberty of their citizens to acquire wear and carry permits have also seen drastic reductions in their murder rates. The problems addressed by my friends from the cities will not be solved with this bill or with with new school buildings. Maryland’s government has driven away much-needed jobs, and most of our anti-poverty money has been thrown down a dark well with little or no accountability. I noted that we continue in failing to ask the right questions and banishing the wrong things. The gun crimes in Baltimore City will continue until the family unit is strengthened and order is restored to this basic unit of self-governance. I declared that nothing will change until we take a hard look in the mirror and examine our failed and flawed programs.

Because of this ban we will see the loss of many businesses and jobs in Maryland, as firearm manufacturers relocate to more welcoming states. Companies such as Beretta Arms (Charles Co.), Benelli Arms (Worcester Co.), and LWRC (Dorchester Co.), along with several others, employ over 1,000 Marylanders and bring in revenues to the state coffers exceeding $500 million. Their owners are being courted by multiple states with lower tax burdens, and a strong desire to support their market share as opposed to declaring them manufacturers of “bad” or “evil” products. Who can blame the ownership for making a moral decision to take their business elsewhere?

I’m sure my words resonated with many in the chamber, but the work is great and politicians look for soundbite fixes to generational problems. It is simply easier to identify the enemy as an object, place it on a “Banned List,” and claim victory. This is the standard practice of those who merely seek further election, rather than try to leave their world better than they found it.

Our state is already ranked dead last in the country in terms of personal liberty and freedom; the passage of Senate Bill 281 would secure this position for a generation yet to come.

What is Next?

Moving forward, there has been talk of a public referendum on SB 281. So long as there is a financial backer such as the NRA to support this endeavor with big bucks, a referendum would have a good chance of passage in 2014. But without an influx of capital to support the measure, the end result could be detrimental - as we saw during the referendum initiatives last November, which gave birth to many of the problems we have experienced during this session.Right now individuals are pursuing and confronting large businesses and entities on their continued support of the elected officials who supported this terrible bill (along with other bills, no doubt). By simply searching the Maryland State Board of Elections website, individuals and groups can identify those that need to be contacted and pressured to abandon their support of gun control advocates. Some organizations have already begun this process and have succeeded in persuading entire union organizations to retreat from their positions of support for certain candidates who voted against their interests on this particular bill. It truly resonates with the people.

I suggest that these types of projects be performed by groups of citizens and that they send a letter to the supporters of legislators favorable to the gun bill, followed by an arranged meeting where the point can be pressed home. We should find that many folks know very little about the votes being taken by the politicians they are told to support.

The work begins now as we move forward into an election cycle. As I write this, I have been informed that the Senate has amended the bill with two changes and that it will now go into a Conference Committee with the House before it can be voted out of both chambers. I will follow up with more information when the final bill is either defeated or sent to the governor’s desk.

Marylanders, take back your state!