HKB
Ultimate Member
Expect House Action on Gov. O'Malley's
Gun Control Bill - SB 281
March 18, 2013
We can expect the Md. House of Delegates to act on Gov. Martin O'Malley's gun control bill within the next two weeks. The legislative cross-over date is Mar. 25 (the courtesy date by which each chamber is to have all of the legislation that it intends to pass in 2013 over to the opposite chamber) so it is likely that the House will offer its version back to the Senate using SB 281 as the bill.
In the House, the legislation proposed by Gov. O'Malley was jointly referred to two standing committees - Judiciary Committee and Health and Government Operations Committee. A joint hearing of the two committees was held on Fri. March 1 which was a marathon lasting well into the morning the next morning.
The testimony was overwhelmingly in opposition to the bill with thousands of pro-gun constituents having attended the Feb. 6 hearing in the Senate and the Mar. 1 hearing in the House.
Two weeks have elapsed and with the end of session nearing, we anticipate the House committees to consider their own amendments and send the bill to the House floor. On the General Assembly website, you can review the 3rd reader version of the Senate bill (click here) and the revised "Fiscal & Policy Note" (click here).
An update entitled "The Battle is Far from Over" is available about the mid-March lobbying effort in opposition to the bill by Maryland Shall Issue (click here).
Here is a summary of the bill provisions that were altered by the Senate amendments adopted in the Judicial Proceedings Committee and on the Senate floor:
AMENDMENTS MADE IN THE SENATE TO
SENATE BILL 281:
Licensing
Exempts from the handgun qualification license provisions any licensed firearms manufacturer; any federal, state, or local law enforcement officer or retired law enforcement officer in good standing; and any member or retired member of the armed forces or the National Guard.
Expands the timeframe during which a previously completed firearms safety training course satisfies the training provision in the licensing section from one year to three years.
Reduces the training requirement for a handgun qualification license from eight hours to four hours.
Allows the live-fire component of the training requirement to be completed within ten years prior to the submission of the application.
Exempts from the training requirement for a handgun qualification license anyone who is currently a certified firearms instructor and who is recognized as such by the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions, the Superintendant of State Police, or a national organization; anyone who is an honorably discharged member of the armed forces or the National Guard, and anyone who is an employee of an armored car company.
Shifts the responsibility of applying for a state and national criminal background check from the applicant to the Superintendant of State Police.
Only one complete set of the applicant's fingerprints is required to apply for a handgun qualification license-not two.
Reduces the maximum application fee for a handgun qualification license to $25 (Floor)
Extends the time for which a handgun qualification license is valid from five years to ten years.
Removes the requirement that an applicant for a renewal of a handgun qualification license go through the firearms safety training course and the criminal background check with each successive renewal.
Reduces the fee for renewal applications of a handgun qualification license to $20.
Allows anyone whose handgun qualification license is lost or stolen to obtain a replacement license for up to $20 upon a written request for the replacement.
Penalties
Removes the criminal penalties for voluntarily registering an assault weapon after the deadline and replaces them with a sliding scale of civil fines per firearm.
Amends the criminal penalties for registering an assault weapon after being discovered with it past the deadline to one year in prison for each incident.
Requires the Superintendant of State Police to suspend a dealer's license if they are not in compliance with the record keeping and reporting requirements added elsewhere in the bill.
Mental Health
Allows someone who would otherwise have to surrender all their firearms to law enforcement in conjunction with an order for involuntary admission to temporarily transfer those firearms to a licensed dealer for storage or consignment.
Adds a mental health disqualifier to the statement on a firearm application that prohibits someone who suffers from a particular kind of mental disorder and who has a history of violent behavior against themselves or others from purchasing a firearm.
Expands the general mental health disqualifiers to prohibit anyone who has been found incompetent to stand trial; has been found not criminally responsible; has been voluntarily admitted to a mental health facility for more than 30 consecutive days; anyone who has ever been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility; anyone who has been admitted to a mental health facility as the result of an emergency evaluation; anyone who is under the protection of a court-appointed guardian; and anyone who is a respondent to some kind of protective order-from purchasing a firearm or from possessing a regulated firearm.
Requires mental health facilities to report information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System for any patient who has been voluntarily admitted for 30 consecutive days or more and any patient who has been involuntarily committed-no matter the duration of time.
Expands the enumerated mental health disqualifiers to the possession of any firearm, including rifles and shotguns-not just regulated firearms.
Assault Weapons Ban
The definition of "copycat weapon" is now a two-feature test for both rifles and pistols.
"Thumbhole stock" has been removed from the list of features that could make a firearm a "copycat weapon" for both rifles and shotguns.
Exempts "railroad police officers" from the ban on the possession of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Expands the assault weapon/high capacity magazine exemption for licensed dealers and manufacturers to include possession, manufacture, receipt for manufacture, and shipment for manufacture when they are returning an assault weapon to an out-of-state owner who sent it in under the terms of a warranty or for repair.
Exempts from the assault weapon/high capacity magazine ban a retired state or local law enforcement officer in good standing who either received the firearm or magazine from the law enforcement agency upon retirement or who bought the firearm or magazine for official use with that law enforcement agency before retirement.
Exempts employees of an armored car company from the ban on the possession of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines while acting under the scope of their employment.
Grandfathered Weapons
Certain provisions have been amended from "possess" to "possess and transport" to clarify what someone can do with a duly registered assault weapon.
The final date of registration to properly grandfather in an assault weapon has been delayed from November 1, 2013 to January 1, 2014.
Clarifies that anyone who registered an assault long gun before October 1, 2013 as part of the purchase process is not required to re-register it after the bill goes into effect.
Concealed Carry
Reduces the training requirement for renewal applications of a concealed carry permit from 16 hours to 8 hours.
Exempts from the training requirement for a concealed carry permit any federal, state, or local law enforcement officer or retired law enforcement officer in good standing; any member, retired, member, or honorably discharged member of the armed forces or the National Guard, and any certified firearms instructor who meets certain qualification requirements.
Allows the Superintendant of State Police to issue a handgun qualification license-without any further application or fee-to anyone who already meets the requirements for a concealed carry permit.
Miscellaneous
Prohibits someone from firing a firearm as part of bird or mammal hunting within 300 yards of any school during school hours or when a school-approved activity is taking place.
Prohibits the issuance of a dealer's license to any applicant if a person who will either participate in the management and operations of the business or who holds a legal or equitable interest in that business is not eligible to be issues a license or has previously had a dealer's license suspended or revoked.
Limits the prohibition on possession of ammunition solely to those who would be disqualified from possessing a regulated firearm under the mental health or criminal history provisions-not under the age-related provision.
Grants the Maryland State Police the same auditing powers that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives currently has over the record keeping and reporting requirements of licensed firearm dealers.
