DELEGATE MIKE MCDERMOTT PRESS RELEASE 6-25-13

(Annapolis)-- Delegate Mike McDermott (R-Eastern Shore) has called upon the Maryland State Police to eliminate the extensive delays now being applied to regulated firearms purchases. Current law requires a 7-day waiting period before a firearm may be transferred to another person, but the current waiting period has now exceeded 90-days and continues to grow in length.
“I have called upon Colonel Brown to assign adequate staff for the mission at hand and to work with dealers in providing reasonable discretion without the fear of incurring the wrath of this State”, said Delegate McDermott. “Law abiding citizens are being denied their Constitutional right to simply defend themselves on their own property by these unreasonable delays”.
“There are other methods to determine eligibility that are employed by the Federal Government which provide nearly instant results as to any potential disqualification of a potential purchaser,” Delegate McDermott went on to say. “We live in a technology driven world while we provide a Stone Age response time, and this is unacceptable to the people we serve.”
The following is the text of the letter sent to Colonel Brown.
Colonel Marcus L. Brown, Superintendent 
Maryland Department of State Police
1201 Reisterstown Road
Pikesville, MD 21208
Dear Colonel Brown: 
I am writing you today on behalf of many of my constituents who are attempting to purchase regulated firearms or represent business owners who currently are permitted to sell regulated firearms in Maryland.
While state law allows for the transfer of these firearms following a 7-day waiting period, most of these transactions are now exceeding 80+ days and this time frame appears to be continually expanding. When it became apparent that the MSP would not be able to perform their duties regarding the processing of these applications in a timely manner, licensees were strongly warned (threatened) against releasing any firearm after 7-days if they had not received approval from the MSP. To date, most of these dealers comply under a sense of duress.
The failure of rendering a decision on these purchases as required by law in a timely manner is substantially affecting the ability of Marylanders to protect themselves in their homes and their places of business. People should not be required to wait more than 7-days to exercise a Constitutionally guaranteed right. Therefore, I ask that you intervene in this matter.
First, I ask that you assign sufficient staff to insure that your department can process these applications within the 7-days currently prescribed by law.
Secondly, if you are unable to accomplish this in a timely manner, I ask that you instruct licensees that they will not be penalized, nor incur the wrath of the MSP at a later date, if they transfer a firearm after 7-days to a person they reasonably believe to be otherwise qualified to receive a regulated firearm (perhaps people they know personally or have conducted firearm transactions for in the past).
Please keep me informed and updated on the rules and regulations being formulated to implement SB-281 in the coming months. You have been handed a tough assignment by your boss. Your prompt attention to my concerns is greatly appreciated.