Bob Adelmann
New American
March 2, 2013
After 10 hours of intense debate, the Maryland Senate
passed Governor Martin O’Malley’s gun control measure
handily late Thursday afternoon, 28-19, with all 12 Republicans and a
handful of Democrats voting against the bill. The measure will be
debated in the House
next
week, with passage nearly certain. After O’Malley signs the bill into
law it will make Maryland’s gun laws among the most restrictive in the
nation, putting the lie to the state’s moniker, “
The Free State.”
Maryland is also the nation’s wealthiest state, and its citizens currently have
registered more than 1,200,000 of their firearms with the state
under previous law. The new legislation will require gun owners, as
well as new purchasers of firearms, to get fingerprinted, take eight
hours of classroom study, and pay for a more extensive
background check.
In addition, no one will be able to buy a so-called “assault weapon” or
purchase a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds. The bill will also
tighten up limits on gun ownership by residents committed against their
will for mental health treatment.
When O’Malley announced his proposal
in January, he
said that the requirements in it were “common-sense gun safety measures
… [that] will give us the tools to combat … violence” but would also
protect Marylanders’ Second Amendment rights. They were also touted as
somehow being able to rein in criminal ownership of guns and reducing
the firepower of those remaining in the hands of the public. At
O’Malley’s public announcement, Baltimore County Police Chief Jim
Johnson, a member of Vice President Joe Biden’s “National Law
Enforcement Partnership,” said that that group “has been calling for
background checks
for all firearms purchasers, as well as a ban on semiautomatic assault
weapons and ammunition magazines in excess of ten rounds… We must do all
we can to ensure that we keep guns out of the wrong hands and that we
keep excessive firepower out of our communities.”
When the senate passed the bill, O’Malley declared: “It is a
common-sense licensing requirement. If you have to get a license to
drive a car in Maryland … you should have to be licensed in order to
operate a firearm.”
Maryland senate’s President Pro Tem
Nathaniel McFadden, a member of the state senate for nearly 20 years,
was delighted with the bill’s passage:
Residents are sick and tired of this gun violence. No, this is not a
perfect bill. Because you’re right — those criminals are not going to go
and get fingerprinted.
But somehow these guns find their way into our communities.… They
come from somewhere, and you can get a gun quicker than you [can] get an
apple or an orange in my community. It’s outrageous, and we have to
start somewhere.
What’s really happening in Maryland has little to do with controlling crime but possibly everything to do with O’Malley.
The Baltimore Sun exulted
that the bill passed by the senate contained the licensing provision
which is “the centerpiece” of the governor’s bill and the one they
believe would be most effective in reducing gun violence. Instead, it
looks as if passage will be most effective in promoting O’Malley’s run
for the presidency in 2016.
The governor got involved in left-wing causes while still in college, working with
Gary Hart’s presidential campaign for president in 1984. From
there he worked as state field director of then-congresswoman Barbara
Mikulski (now Maryland’s senior senator), and then took a position in
her office as a “legislative fellow.” In 2004, O’Malley spoke at the
2004 Democratic National Convention in support of John Kerry’s campaign
for president against President George W. Bush. In August 2005, New York
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s
Business Week magazine touted
O’Malley as one of the “new stars” in the Democrat Party galaxy, along
with then-Senator Ken Salazar, then-Senator Barack Obama, and
then-Representative Rahm Emanuel. The only one not eventually involved
intimately in the Obama administration was Martin O’Malley.
O’Malley is term-limited in 2014, which gives him a full two years to
explore a presidential run in 2016. Passage of this signature piece of
legislation, supported by nothing more than rhetoric, will add to his
perceived credibility among those on the Left. O’Malley has often
referred to his success in reducing crime while he was mayor of
Baltimore from 1999 to 2007, claiming that under his administration
crime dropped by nearly 40 percent. The fact that he could never prove
where that statistic came from,
nor could anyone else, doesn’t matter.
Neither does it matter that limiting magazines to 10 rounds will hardly have an impact on reducing crime.
Indiana sheriffs have completely debunked
the idea that limiting magazines will give victims time to tackle a
shooter and take him down by forcing the shooter to reload more often.
According to their real-world test, “There is little to no difference in
the time it takes to fire 30 rounds from 2 15-round magazines, 3
10-round magazines or 5 6-round magazines.”
Nor does it matter to O’Malley that passage of his bill will likely
drive employers such as Beretta USA out of the state, taking
with them some 300-400 jobs. As Jeffrey Reh, general counsel for
Beretta who testified against O’Malley’s bill, put it: “Why expand in a
place where people who built the gun [banned by the new
law] couldn’t buy it?”
Why, indeed? O’Malley’s bill might just have more to do with
O’Malley’s political future, and building creds with the Democratic
Party insiders, than it has to do with trying to reduce crime in
Maryland.
Beretta
USA, one of the nation’s largest firearms manufacturers, compared a
Maryland gun-control bill to a book ban Friday and warned it may
consider leaving the state if the legislation passes.
Beretta general counsel Jeffrey Reh said Maryland Democratic Gov.
Martin O’Malley’s Firearm Safety Act of 2013 is “tantamount to a
legislative effort to ban certain books” during testimony before the
Maryland House Judiciary Committee.
“That might seem like a provocative statement but the
parallels are apt,” Reh said, according to testimony obtained by the
Free Beacon.
“The possession and use of firearms and printed materials are both
protected by the Constitution. Both rights come from the only
legislation in U.S. history that was voted on and approved directly by
the citizens of our country.”
“One might suggest that books do not kill and that the current
legislation is sought for beneficial reasons,” Reh continued. “In fact,
the misuse of books—say, the Bible or the Koran—have led to tragedy, and
efforts to ban certain books—for example, Huckleberry Finn—have also
come from allegedly ‘beneficial’ intent.”
The Maryland Senate passed O’Malley’s contentious bill late Thursday
night. The bill moved Friday to the House of Delegates where thousands
of supporters and opponents
flooded the Capitol to watch events unfold.
O’Malley’s bill would, among other things, ban assault rifles,
high-capacity magazines, and any new guns with two or more
“military-like” features. Beretta is set
to begin producing a new civilian version of a rifle
that would be illegal under O’Malley’s bill.
Reh testified the bill’s intentions were “understandable” but
“misguided.” The legislation, he said, would target guns not typically
used in crime and would fail to deter a deranged person.
“A person bent on destruction will find a way to do so and the absence of a folding
stock on a rifle or the need to carry an additional magazine will not stop such a person,” Reh said.
Reh also warned the bill could prompt Beretta USA, which employs
between 300 and 400 people in the state, to leave for friendlier climes.
“[W]e are confronted with a state government that wants to ban our
products at a time, by the way, when numerous other state governments
are courting our investment,” Reh said. “It is worth noting that these
other states also do not try to blame a product for human misconduct.”
Maryland Republicans are also worried about the effect of the legislation.
“We are pushing a legitimate manufacturer and good neighbor out of Maryland,” Republican state Delegate Anthony O’Donnell
told
FoxNews.com Wednesday. “Losing them would be a big disappointment.
Maryland has a reputation for having a horrible business climate, and
this would be one more nail in the coffin.”
O’Malley
said his bill “is supported by overwhelming numbers of Marylanders.”
“Hopefully, the House will recognize the very good work that’s been done in the Senate,” he said.
- See more at: http://freebeacon.com/beretta-exec-likens-gun-ban-to-book-ban/#sthash.jAuab3LF.dpuf
Beretta
USA, one of the nation’s largest firearms manufacturers, compared a
Maryland gun-control bill to a book ban Friday and warned it may
consider leaving the state if the legislation passes.
Beretta general counsel Jeffrey Reh said Maryland Democratic Gov.
Martin O’Malley’s Firearm Safety Act of 2013 is “tantamount to a
legislative effort to ban certain books” during testimony before the
Maryland House Judiciary Committee.
“That might seem like a provocative statement but the
parallels are apt,” Reh said, according to testimony obtained by the
Free Beacon.
“The possession and use of firearms and printed materials are both
protected by the Constitution. Both rights come from the only
legislation in U.S. history that was voted on and approved directly by
the citizens of our country.”
“One might suggest that books do not kill and that the current
legislation is sought for beneficial reasons,” Reh continued. “In fact,
the misuse of books—say, the Bible or the Koran—have led to tragedy, and
efforts to ban certain books—for example, Huckleberry Finn—have also
come from allegedly ‘beneficial’ intent.”
The Maryland Senate passed O’Malley’s contentious bill late Thursday
night. The bill moved Friday to the House of Delegates where thousands
of supporters and opponents
flooded the Capitol to watch events unfold.
O’Malley’s bill would, among other things, ban assault rifles,
high-capacity magazines, and any new guns with two or more
“military-like” features. Beretta is set
to begin producing a new civilian version of a rifle
that would be illegal under O’Malley’s bill.
Reh testified the bill’s intentions were “understandable” but
“misguided.” The legislation, he said, would target guns not typically
used in crime and would fail to deter a deranged person.
“A person bent on destruction will find a way to do so and the absence of a folding
stock on a rifle or the need to carry an additional magazine will not stop such a person,” Reh said.
Reh also warned the bill could prompt Beretta USA, which employs
between 300 and 400 people in the state, to leave for friendlier climes.
“[W]e are confronted with a state government that wants to ban our
products at a time, by the way, when numerous other state governments
are courting our investment,” Reh said. “It is worth noting that these
other states also do not try to blame a product for human misconduct.”
Maryland Republicans are also worried about the effect of the legislation.
“We are pushing a legitimate manufacturer and good neighbor out of Maryland,” Republican state Delegate Anthony O’Donnell
told
FoxNews.com Wednesday. “Losing them would be a big disappointment.
Maryland has a reputation for having a horrible business climate, and
this would be one more nail in the coffin.”
O’Malley
said his bill “is supported by overwhelming numbers of Marylanders.”
“Hopefully, the House will recognize the very good work that’s been done in the Senate,” he said.
- See more at: http://freebeacon.com/beretta-exec-likens-gun-ban-to-book-ban/#sthash.jAuab3LF.dpuf
Beretta
USA, one of the nation’s largest firearms manufacturers, compared a
Maryland gun-control bill to a book ban Friday and warned it may
consider leaving the state if the legislation passes.
Beretta general counsel Jeffrey Reh said Maryland Democratic Gov.
Martin O’Malley’s Firearm Safety Act of 2013 is “tantamount to a
legislative effort to ban certain books” during testimony before the
Maryland House Judiciary Committee.
“That might seem like a provocative statement but the
parallels are apt,” Reh said, according to testimony obtained by the
Free Beacon.
“The possession and use of firearms and printed materials are both
protected by the Constitution. Both rights come from the only
legislation in U.S. history that was voted on and approved directly by
the citizens of our country.”
“One might suggest that books do not kill and that the current
legislation is sought for beneficial reasons,” Reh continued. “In fact,
the misuse of books—say, the Bible or the Koran—have led to tragedy, and
efforts to ban certain books—for example, Huckleberry Finn—have also
come from allegedly ‘beneficial’ intent.”
The Maryland Senate passed O’Malley’s contentious bill late Thursday
night. The bill moved Friday to the House of Delegates where thousands
of supporters and opponents
flooded the Capitol to watch events unfold.
O’Malley’s bill would, among other things, ban assault rifles,
high-capacity magazines, and any new guns with two or more
“military-like” features. Beretta is set
to begin producing a new civilian version of a rifle
that would be illegal under O’Malley’s bill.
Reh testified the bill’s intentions were “understandable” but
“misguided.” The legislation, he said, would target guns not typically
used in crime and would fail to deter a deranged person.
“A person bent on destruction will find a way to do so and the absence of a folding
stock on a rifle or the need to carry an additional magazine will not stop such a person,” Reh said.
Reh also warned the bill could prompt Beretta USA, which employs
between 300 and 400 people in the state, to leave for friendlier climes.
“[W]e are confronted with a state government that wants to ban our
products at a time, by the way, when numerous other state governments
are courting our investment,” Reh said. “It is worth noting that these
other states also do not try to blame a product for human misconduct.”
Maryland Republicans are also worried about the effect of the legislation.
“We are pushing a legitimate manufacturer and good neighbor out of Maryland,” Republican state Delegate Anthony O’Donnell
told
FoxNews.com Wednesday. “Losing them would be a big disappointment.
Maryland has a reputation for having a horrible business climate, and
this would be one more nail in the coffin.”
O’Malley
said his bill “is supported by overwhelming numbers of Marylanders.”
“Hopefully, the House will recognize the very good work that’s been done in the Senate,” he said.
- See more at: http://freebeacon.com/beretta-exec-likens-gun-ban-to-book-ban/#sthash.jAuab3LF.dpuf
