District 3A

[bobnieder]

I have written personally (as well as using the AGC tool to mass mail to the whole legislature), to Senator Young and, just now, to del. Patrick Hogan. I will send one to Galen Clagett tomorrow.

Of course, I am not ruling out further emails, but I wanted to focus one to each of the reps whose district I live and vote in, at least. I will let you know how they respond.

So far, Sen. Young is waffling, but going along with far too much of the bill while still trying to say he respects the second amendment.

 

[bobnieder]

Here is the letter I wrote to Galen Clagett today -- similar emails have also gone to Senator Young and Patrick Hogan. (No apologies on the up front and center posting of the Democrat status -- not so for the two others, who are Republican.)

Dear Galen,

I am writing to you as one of your (registered Democratic and vote every election) constituents who is deeply concerned at the gun control program introduced at the behest of Governor O'Malley. The "feel good" "do something, anything" gun control initiatives are not going to change the activities or lethality of one criminal or mentally unstable individual who decides to use a gun to take lives. Making it more difficult for the average citizen to buy a gun for self defense or sport will not make it one bit harder for a criminal. Laws deter law abiding citizens, not criminals. Licensing a basic right, as the governor proposes (which is improper constitutionally), charging $100 fee to apply, $75 for electronic fingerprinting, $35 for an FBI security check plus hundreds of dollars for training including live fire (I know personally. I have taken 3 NRA courses.), how will that impact a single mom struggling to get by or an elderly person on a fixed income who lives, by necessity, in a high crime area and wants a gun to provide some protection. The Supreme Court has recognized that the police cannot be the only recourse because of the limitations they work under. Suffice it to say, the governor is making it next to impossible for people facing the burden of providing a safe home, and has not deterred one crime in the process.

Then, the whole "Assault Weapon" fallacy. Because a gun looks like a fully automatic military rifle, it is treated like one. It is forbidden to own it because of its appearance? What sense does that make? Hundreds of semi-automatic pistols, rifles and shotguns -- many more than the previous AWB -- are slated to be forbidden to own, and standard capacity magazines have become "high capacity" by fiat and also banned. This is not gun control, this is not gun safety, this is not going to prevent homicide, this is purely and simply a strategem to make owning and using a gun so onerous, so fraught with the possibility of being found criminal by a needlessly complex set of regulations that people will be discouraged from owning weapons or will do so in fear of losing their liberty to an overzealous prosecution of gun owners. Rifles and shotguns are responsible for less homicides than hands or feet -- should we classify them (hands and feet) as "assault weapons" to be strictly regulated by the state? And yet this ban on semi-automatic rifles is seriously propounded as a solution "to protect the children".

Allow citizens that are not either politically connected or owners of a business carrying money to carry a concealed handgun after they have whon they are qualified and passed a background check -- and then allow them to carry on school property, with the knowledge of the teachers and administrators (even from among their ranks). Then the children will have protectors who can stop a criminal assault. "Gun free zones" are criminals killing fields. They know they need fear no armed resistance. Read Dr. John Lott on the effect that "shall issue" CCW permit policies have upon crime rates and murder rates -- it shows that they drop significantly when a more liberal carry policy is instituted. Why? Because criminals have no taste for their chances if their prey may be armed.

Let's replace "Good & Substantial" with a constitutionally sound and acceptable concealed carry option with reasonable fees and training requirements, reduce rather than increase the number and extent of gun free zones, reject the licensing for gun ownership, require Marylanrd to fully implement the NICS system, do away with the 7 day wait, and allow gun sales to proceed after passing the NICS check.

The "gun show loophole" and the "40% of gun sales are without background checks" are urban legends. All gun show sales by businesses are covered by background checks and the number of "face to face" deals between individuals is on the order of 2 - 5% and includes inheritances and family member exchanges.

Resist the pressure to vote for an empty set of bills that will do nothing to stop killing, but will give gun owners something to remember at the next election. I guarantee that I will keep track of the votes on every gun bill and will cast my vote accordingly in the next primary and general election. I may see you in Annapolis this Wednesday when we gather to give our testimony about these bills. I hope that you will have something encouraging to share.

Thank you.

Sincerely,