The pro gun bills

I have long lamented how the Democrat leadership in the General Assembly is making every attempt to infringe on the Second Amendment Rights of Marylanders.

Thankfully, this is not one of those missives.

Today--ironically on the Ides of March--I am calling on the Committee to consider the overall needs of Marylanders as they pertain to the Rights we are guaranteed under the Constitution, and to Due Process.

There are several firearms-related bills before you today. Some which the Firearms Community consider good and necessary, and many which we oppose on Constitutional grounds, whether because of outright infringement or circumventing Normal Order.

Interestingly, my friends and I have received replies today from some of your colleagues in the Judicial Proceeding Committee of the Senate, in response to SB1040 (crossfiled as HB1000). When confronted about the unusual treatment the bill was receiving (limiting testimony in an apparent attempt to rush it through to the floor), Chairman Zirkin denied what was known to the Second Amendment organizations and their members, and then stated:

"... Judicial Proceedings has time limited oral testimony for every one of its bills. I often ask during the hearings for individuals to submit testimony in writing as well as their oral testimony so members of the committee can read statements more thoroughly before we vote. To be clear, each bill is treated exactly the same. There are no exceptions to the rules of the Committee and we afford every individual an opportunity to be heard in person on every side of every bill."

A short while later, Senator Raskin felt the need to reply as well (which I include in its entirety):

"I was not aware that there were any plans afoot to suppress citizen testimony on SB 1040, and if there are, I will totally oppose them! We have always heard from anyone who wants to testify on any bill and there is no reason to change that policy. Citizen testimony is the heart of our legislative process!

"Meantime, SB 1040 is clearly problematic legislation. Although the idea of denying firearms to people on the “terror watchlist” makes good sense in theory and I was totally prepared to support it, everything I have learned about the actual existing federal terror watchlist leads me to believe that it is secretive, error-prone, riddled with constitutional problems, and ineffectual. We have also discovered that people who have worked with this flawed list believe that there is no real way for us to access it in order to implement our would-be plans to adapt it the list for the purpose of denying gun purchases to people on it. So unless some compelling information surfaces to change my mind on the question, I am planning to vote against this well-intentioned but deeply flawed legislation. Many thanks for taking the time to write about this important matter and please stay in close touch."

Of course, as always, I thank you for your consideration for all the testimony today, but additionally I encourage you to vote accordingly for Common Sense Rights Legislation.

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moojersey said:

nom nom me so hungry for legislation

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