Letter to Sun re HB 786 long guns ACTION ALERT

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  • esqappellate

    President, MSI
    Feb 12, 2012
    7,407
    All: I've written a letter to the Sun calling out Del. Atterbeary for making a grievous legal error in her justification for HB 786, requiring impossible background checks for private long gun sales. Please send this letter to your representatives in opposition to the bill. It will get a vote tomorrow in the House and if it passes, it will go over the Senate. So hit both houses.
    https://www.marylandshallissue.org/...-public-documents/156-letter-to-sun-re-hb-786
     

    danb

    dont be a dumbass
    Feb 24, 2013
    22,704
    google is your friend, I am not.
    :thumbsup::thumbsup:

    Private interstate sales are already banned. Interstate transfers need to go through FFL. I feel sure Atterbeary (who is or at least was a practicing attorney) knows this, she is just is just allowing herself to be a useful idiot for the party apparachik.
     

    esqappellate

    President, MSI
    Feb 12, 2012
    7,407
    :thumbsup::thumbsup:

    Private interstate sales are already banned. Interstate transfers need to go through FFL. I feel sure Atterbeary (who is or at least was a practicing attorney) knows this, she is just is just allowing herself to be a useful idiot for the party apparachik.

    I honestly don't know if she knows better or not. I doubt that anyone will actually force the issue with her. But, let's try. Federal law rather demolishes her "loophole" argument.
     

    Seagrave1963

    Still learnin'
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 6, 2011
    10,001
    Eastern Shore
    "Del. Atterbeary needs to bone up on federal firearms law, especially before she sponsors firearms legislation that is justified on a completely erroneous understanding of federal law."

    Bravo sir!

    BTW - sent to my reps.
     

    PowPow

    Where's the beef?
    Nov 22, 2012
    4,712
    Howard County
    I sent your letter to my three Delegates in District 13, which happen to be Atterbeary, Pendergrass, and Terrasa. I added some spice to the message if anyone happens to read it.
     

    esqappellate

    President, MSI
    Feb 12, 2012
    7,407
    I sent your letter to my three Delegates in District 13, which happen to be Atterbeary, Pendergrass, and Terrasa. I added some spice to the message if anyone happens to read it.

    I, for one, would like to see what you said to Atterbeary.
     

    PowPow

    Where's the beef?
    Nov 22, 2012
    4,712
    Howard County
    Dear Delegate Atterbeary,

    My friend Mark Pennak wrote this letter (below) in response to an article in the Baltimore Sun yesterday. Mark is a pretty sharp guy, and he's rarely wrong (if ever) when it comes to firearms law. I thought you might be interested to read it.

    Please put HB0786 out of its misery and ours, and leave the law-abiding of this great state alone! Write some bills that strengthen law enforcement, encourage consistent sentencing, and go after repeat offenders as suggested by your colleague, Delegate Kipke.

    You cannot tell criminals to get a background check before they steal someone's gun, and you cannot trace a gun they grind off the serial number from. Laws in the real world do not work like student government did in High School. In High school student government, you could "pass" a bunch of "laws", feel good about it, and brag about how you affected someone you didn't like. In the real world, you affect someone who doesn't deserve it, my family, my friends, and freedom-loving Marylanders who obey laws.
    In liberty,
    PowPow
    ----
    March 17, 2019

    The Editors
    The Baltimore Sun
    501 N. Calvert Street,
    P.O. Box 1377,
    Baltimore, MD 21278

    Re: Response to Delegate Atterbeary

    The Sun, in its March 16, 2019 on line edition, published an article concerning the House of Delegates Judiciary Committee version of HB 786, a bill sponsored by Delegate Atterbeary (D. District 13, Howard County). https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/bs-md-house-gun-debate-20190316-story.html. The article, by Pamela Wood, quotes Del. Atterbeary as stating that HB 786 is necessary to regulate long gun private sales in Maryland (ordinary hunting rifles and shotguns) because "Maryland residents could buy rifles and shotguns in other states that don’t require background checks and then bring them into the state." She is quoted as calling this a "loophole." As a lawyer, Del. Atterbeary should know better. That legal "loophole" simply does not exist.

    Interstate sales of long guns (like handguns) are strictly regulated by federal law. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(3), a Maryland resident may go to federal firearms licensee (a dealer) out of state and buy a long gun, but only face to face and only from a dealer. NICS background checks with the FBI are conducted by the dealer on all such interstate sales of long guns, as required by federal law. 18 U.S.C. § 922(t). All such sales must comply with the law of the state in which the sale occurs as well as the law of the state in which the buyer resides. No Marylander can legally buy a gun out of state that he or she cannot buy from a dealer within Maryland. See Mance v. Sessions, 896 F.3d 699 (5th Cir. 2018).

    In contrast, interstate private sales and transfers of all guns (not involving a dealer) are flatly banned. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(3),(5). A violation of that ban is a federal felony. 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1). If a Marylander wants to buy a long gun owned by an out of state person (not a dealer), that out of state person must have the long gun shipped to a federal firearms licensee dealer in Maryland, the state of the purchaser. That long gun then becomes part of the dealer’s inventory for purposes of the sale. That Maryland dealer then conducts a NICS background check with the FBI, exactly the same way he would for any other sale of a long gun. The dealer also typically adds a significant handling fee for conducting this service. Del. Atterbeary needs to bone up on federal firearms law, especially before she sponsors firearms legislation that is justified on a completely erroneous understanding of federal law.

    Sincerely,
    Mark W. Pennak, President
    Maryland Shall Issue, Inc.
    1332 Cape St. Claire Road #342
    Annapolis, MD 21409
    mpennak@marylandshallissue.org
     

    BeoBill

    Crank in the Third Row
    MDS Supporter
    Oct 3, 2013
    27,058
    南馬里蘭州鮑伊
    The following information was sent to Douglas J. J. Peters, Marvin E. Holmes, Jr., Ron Watson...

    Thank you Mark. I quoted your letter in mine. Great writing!
     

    dblas

    Past President, MSI
    MDS Supporter
    Apr 6, 2011
    13,087
    Letter copied and modified slightly and sent to all of my Delegates in District 21.
     

    esqappellate

    President, MSI
    Feb 12, 2012
    7,407
    Dear Delegate Atterbeary,

    My friend Mark Pennak wrote this letter (below) in response to an article in the Baltimore Sun yesterday. Mark is a pretty sharp guy, and he's rarely wrong (if ever) when it comes to firearms law. I thought you might be interested to read it.

    Please put HB0786 out of its misery and ours, and leave the law-abiding of this great state alone! Write some bills that strengthen law enforcement, encourage consistent sentencing, and go after repeat offenders as suggested by your colleague, Delegate Kipke.

    You cannot tell criminals to get a background check before they steal someone's gun, and you cannot trace a gun they grind off the serial number from. Laws in the real world do not work like student government did in High School. In High school student government, you could "pass" a bunch of "laws", feel good about it, and brag about how you affected someone you didn't like. In the real world, you affect someone who doesn't deserve it, my family, my friends, and freedom-loving Marylanders who obey laws.
    In liberty,
    PowPow
    ----
    March 17, 2019

    The Editors
    The Baltimore Sun
    501 N. Calvert Street,
    P.O. Box 1377,
    Baltimore, MD 21278

    Re: Response to Delegate Atterbeary

    The Sun, in its March 16, 2019 on line edition, published an article concerning the House of Delegates Judiciary Committee version of HB 786, a bill sponsored by Delegate Atterbeary (D. District 13, Howard County). https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/bs-md-house-gun-debate-20190316-story.html. The article, by Pamela Wood, quotes Del. Atterbeary as stating that HB 786 is necessary to regulate long gun private sales in Maryland (ordinary hunting rifles and shotguns) because "Maryland residents could buy rifles and shotguns in other states that don’t require background checks and then bring them into the state." She is quoted as calling this a "loophole." As a lawyer, Del. Atterbeary should know better. That legal "loophole" simply does not exist.

    Interstate sales of long guns (like handguns) are strictly regulated by federal law. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(3), a Maryland resident may go to federal firearms licensee (a dealer) out of state and buy a long gun, but only face to face and only from a dealer. NICS background checks with the FBI are conducted by the dealer on all such interstate sales of long guns, as required by federal law. 18 U.S.C. § 922(t). All such sales must comply with the law of the state in which the sale occurs as well as the law of the state in which the buyer resides. No Marylander can legally buy a gun out of state that he or she cannot buy from a dealer within Maryland. See Mance v. Sessions, 896 F.3d 699 (5th Cir. 2018).

    In contrast, interstate private sales and transfers of all guns (not involving a dealer) are flatly banned. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(3),(5). A violation of that ban is a federal felony. 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1). If a Marylander wants to buy a long gun owned by an out of state person (not a dealer), that out of state person must have the long gun shipped to a federal firearms licensee dealer in Maryland, the state of the purchaser. That long gun then becomes part of the dealer’s inventory for purposes of the sale. That Maryland dealer then conducts a NICS background check with the FBI, exactly the same way he would for any other sale of a long gun. The dealer also typically adds a significant handling fee for conducting this service. Del. Atterbeary needs to bone up on federal firearms law, especially before she sponsors firearms legislation that is justified on a completely erroneous understanding of federal law.

    Sincerely,
    Mark W. Pennak, President
    Maryland Shall Issue, Inc.
    1332 Cape St. Claire Road #342
    Annapolis, MD 21409
    mpennak@marylandshallissue.org

    Nice! Civil, well written and to the point. Well done.
     

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