I've been in Annapolis during senate and house gun bill hearings many times and many different years in the past when our 2A rights were on the line in this state, notably the session of 2004 when Leah Barrett, or whatever her real name is, was leading the charge to get Maryland GA to pass a state version of the Clitton (misspell on purpose) federal 10 year ban on the misleading nomenclature of the so-called "ass-halt rifle ban". Back then, when a person approached the podium to make their testimony, a question was asked by the panel of every person to the liking of, "Who are you representing and are you being paid or compensated in any way to be here and testify today?". The anti-gun crowd was somewhere in the 80% to 90% range of those being $$$ (financially) compensated in one means or another. On the other side of the spectrum (our side), those that were receiving some sort of $$$ compensation was drastically less than 10%, my realistic estimation would be in the 1%, perhaps as high, but unlikely so, a maximum of 2%. G, I don't know how long you've been around the 2A community in Maryland and also an active proponent fighting for our rights, but believe me, your statement regarding those being $$$ compensated versing those not being compensated (on their own dime) with regard to pro and anti 2A is nothing new. If you've been around this 2A freedom patriot type for many years, you know what I mean and this is not directed at you but to those that may be fairly new to the political and 2A world as we know it here in Maryland.
I'm fairly new. 2013 is when I really got involved. I have tried to learn the history of the issues in MD, and John Josselyn has been a good mentor for me in that regard. I think the paid shills are important to point out. In fact, in retrospect, we should have had someone from "our side" asking each member of the "expert panels" if they were being compensated. I don't recall if we actually did. I believe the only person on our side who would have said they were paid was Shannon. Of course, that was no secret.