knovotny
Active Member
We attended Andy Harris's town hall tonight in Kingsville. There weren't as many people there as I expected. Probably 30ish. If you wanted to ask a question, you were given a ticket, and then he drew randomly. For what was supposed to have been an hour, went 1/2 hour over.
There were quite a few normal Americans who had legitimate questions, or who wanted to tell him they appreciated what he is doing. And then there were the TDS crowd. Our ticket actually got drawn first, and we were planning on asking something based on what others said, so we just told him that we appreciate his support of the 2nd Amendment, and that we hope that he continues. The last question asked was by a MDA crazy. She asked about UBC's, and ERPO's. I think he did a good job of explaining how MD already has UBC for regulated firearms, how long guns are generally NOT used in crime, and how the data does not support enacting federal UBC. That out of 7000 failed NICS checks one year, only 10 were prosecuted. How something like 56 people are on the MD state registry of prohibited persons for mental health reasons. When the number would obviously be way higher, but because of privacy laws, they aren't reporting that.
With ERPO's, there were over 900 filed, and 400 something granted. Why were there so many that weren't? Were they false? What happened with the people who did have them granted? He said that all of that is unknown, and he stressed that these are ex parte. That he cannot support more legislation when there is no data proving that these things work. Personally I think he did a pretty good job refuting her suggestions. She was basically spouting the standard MDA talking points.
He said that MD's 7 day wait could cause MORE harm to women, because if they want a pistol to protect themselves, they have to wait. And that he thinks women should be armed for their own self defense.
Other than that there was the expected shrieking about how Trump is so nasty and rude, and well why doesn't Andy Harris tell him to not be mean. It was pretty laughable. He did a good job of telling people to get out and vote if they don't like him. Those who wanted Trump to behave like a nun were the ones who were rude and disruptive, as expected. One woman even compared him to Hitler, and then Andy was going to cut her off for that and move on, she claimed he was putting words in her mouth, that she didn't say he WAS Hitler. Pretty sure she was a school teacher. She didn't understand that saying he was like Hitler, was comparing him to Hitler.
A group of women wanted to argue with me afterwards about Trumps language. One was reasonably respectful, so I had a brief conversation with her. Her sister jumped in the middle and was rude so I walked away. So she got mad about that. So I told her I am happy to have a civil discussion, but that I will walk away from rudeness. So she started muttering, so I called her out on that too. It was so amusing how triggered they were. Nastiness is ok when it is towards someone you perceive to be in the wrong, apparently. And I shouldn't be offended by being called a Deplorable, because that wasn't personally directed at me. Right...
Interesting night for sure, but I am glad I am represented by a guy who seems like a decent man. He was very tolerant of a lot of BS, and kept his head. We spoke with his wife too, who is a huge 2A supporter.
There were quite a few normal Americans who had legitimate questions, or who wanted to tell him they appreciated what he is doing. And then there were the TDS crowd. Our ticket actually got drawn first, and we were planning on asking something based on what others said, so we just told him that we appreciate his support of the 2nd Amendment, and that we hope that he continues. The last question asked was by a MDA crazy. She asked about UBC's, and ERPO's. I think he did a good job of explaining how MD already has UBC for regulated firearms, how long guns are generally NOT used in crime, and how the data does not support enacting federal UBC. That out of 7000 failed NICS checks one year, only 10 were prosecuted. How something like 56 people are on the MD state registry of prohibited persons for mental health reasons. When the number would obviously be way higher, but because of privacy laws, they aren't reporting that.
With ERPO's, there were over 900 filed, and 400 something granted. Why were there so many that weren't? Were they false? What happened with the people who did have them granted? He said that all of that is unknown, and he stressed that these are ex parte. That he cannot support more legislation when there is no data proving that these things work. Personally I think he did a pretty good job refuting her suggestions. She was basically spouting the standard MDA talking points.
He said that MD's 7 day wait could cause MORE harm to women, because if they want a pistol to protect themselves, they have to wait. And that he thinks women should be armed for their own self defense.
Other than that there was the expected shrieking about how Trump is so nasty and rude, and well why doesn't Andy Harris tell him to not be mean. It was pretty laughable. He did a good job of telling people to get out and vote if they don't like him. Those who wanted Trump to behave like a nun were the ones who were rude and disruptive, as expected. One woman even compared him to Hitler, and then Andy was going to cut her off for that and move on, she claimed he was putting words in her mouth, that she didn't say he WAS Hitler. Pretty sure she was a school teacher. She didn't understand that saying he was like Hitler, was comparing him to Hitler.
A group of women wanted to argue with me afterwards about Trumps language. One was reasonably respectful, so I had a brief conversation with her. Her sister jumped in the middle and was rude so I walked away. So she got mad about that. So I told her I am happy to have a civil discussion, but that I will walk away from rudeness. So she started muttering, so I called her out on that too. It was so amusing how triggered they were. Nastiness is ok when it is towards someone you perceive to be in the wrong, apparently. And I shouldn't be offended by being called a Deplorable, because that wasn't personally directed at me. Right...
Interesting night for sure, but I am glad I am represented by a guy who seems like a decent man. He was very tolerant of a lot of BS, and kept his head. We spoke with his wife too, who is a huge 2A supporter.
Some folks were clearly there just to yell at him, and find any way to hiss at whatever he said. They had no respect for order and talking only when it was their turn. As they frenzied themselves, I was really expecting to hear a hand clap at every word to prove that he was wrong.
