Bravo Michael Smigiel

When I saw that 7 Republicans had broken their oath to uphold the Constitution and joined the Progressive Socialist Democrats of Maryland in their efforts to disarm the citizens of Maryland, I was disheartened that so many had voted to infringe upon my god given right of self-defense. When I went to look up those 7 and saw that they were, in fact, the only 7 out of 141 members of the House of Delegates who upheld their oath to support the Constitution, I was shocked beyond belief because I knew immediately what had happened.

The only reason that Republican leadership would agree to push the caucus to vote to infringe upon the 2nd Amendment is to give the Republican Governor cover to sign the bills into law and to refuse to veto them.

After all, if the Republican delegates did their jobs and voted to uphold the 2nd Amendment Rights of their constituents the Governor would look bad in signing or refusing to veto these bills.

The Republican Delegates made a conscious choice to place politics above principle.

Now they need to justify that decision.

The first bill we were betrayed on is HB-888 which is commonly known as the Bump-Stock Bill. Even the ultra-Progressive Obama administration ruled that Bump Stocks are "a firearm part and [is] not regulated as a firearm under Gun Control Act or the National Firearms Act."

https://slidefire.com/files/BATFE.pdf

So the Republican members of the Maryland House of Delegates have voted to infringe upon their constituents' 2nd Amendment rights more than had the Obama administration!

The second bill we were betrayed on is HB-1302 which is called the Red Flag bill. HB-1302 allows for "Anyone" (see 5-601 (2) (III) not just family, friends, or medical professionals, to report you as dangerous, which includes claiming you had a bar fight (see 5-602 (a) (7) (II) or a DUI, (see 5-602 (a) (7) (IV) or you improperly store your firearms, (see 5-602 (a) (7) (I) and then, using the lowest standard of proof available, "Preponderance of the Evidence", (5-603 (A) (1) you can have your firearms ordered taken from you.

Our elected Republican Delegates, who all claim to be pro 2A and brag about their NRA "A" ratings, voted for this blatant invasion of the 2nd Amendment rights of Marylanders.

There is a system in place to take firearms from those deemed to be dangerous. There has been no indication that the current system was unable to be used against any person who later went out and committed a violent act with a firearm.

Instead of choosing the very least intrusive method to strip a citizen of this Constitutional right, and assuring the utmost protection against misuse, our "friends" voted to allow new expanded intrusions into our freedoms.

It is not just these two bills that we have been betrayed on, there are others which have been passed and still others pending.

We expect to be engaged in a fight for our liberty with the Progressive Socialist Democrat machine in Maryland, what we do not expect, and can not tolerate, is this unprecedented betrayal by our so called conservative "friends".

Make no mistake, these votes were a conscious decision to choose giving the Republican Governor cover, since he is not going to veto the bills. The Governor is looking to appease the left, thinking that will garner him enough support to be re-elected.

No matter how much they smile, no matter how much they try to rationalize their actions or tell you what they did was for a greater good, no-one who chose politics over principle deserves to be re-elected this June.

Our elected officials had the hubris to do this because it is widely believed and openly stated that the Maryland 2A community is not a threat to their re-election. We are seen as a valuable asset to claim having the support of but not having enough political clout, to be feared. So our "friends" can make promises during an election year and ignore us after the election.

What should we do now? We need to send a message that we are serious about protecting our rights. It is time to stop talking and act.

Share this article with your friends and ask them to do the same with their friends so we can let everyone know what has happened and why.

Call the Governor's Office and ask that he veto these bills which are unconstitutional infringements on our 2nd Amendment rights.

Spread the word to every legislative district represented by Republicans who voted for these abominations.

Withhold your donations to their campaigns.
Call their offices, let them know they have lost your support.
Write letters to the editor to get the word out.

Greet your Delegates at every public meeting they go to and make sure every person in the room knows how we have been sold out.

There is an election in June. If we are not seen as responsible for replacing some of those, who have shown their allegiance to their party politics is more important than their sacred oath to uphold the Constitution, then this year's history will repeat itself. In which case, we deserve what we get next year.

If you leave a comment, Please tell us your District or County so others in the 2nd Amendment community can reach out to coordinate efforts to replace those who would sell out our freedom for a visit to the Governor's mansion and shrimp on a cracker.