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The race to be the state with the country’s toughest most unconstitutional gun laws continues. “Gov. Martin O’Malley announced Monday broad details of a plan that would give Maryland among the nation’s strictest gun laws,” baltimoresun.com reports. “No one could buy a handgun without first passing a training course and providing fingerprints to a police database. That licensing provision, expected to be controversial in Annapolis, is the most sweeping change in a proposal that also includes a ban on the sale of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, which were used in the Newtown, Conn., school shooting that has sparked a national debate on gun control.” As was a Honda Civic. Anyway, as Toots and the Maytals sang, Mr. O’Malley feels a sickness . . .

“There is a sickness in this country, and that sickness is gun violence,” O’Malley said, repeating a phrase he has used in the weeks since the December shooting that killed 20 children. “Gun violence is truly a public health issue,” he said.

And here’s the cure, allegedly.

Under the governor’s licensing proposal, any handgun purchaser would need a Maryland State Police license granted only after fingerprinting, a more extensive background check than currently required, and completion of a gun class like those taught across the country by the National Rifle Association.

See what he did there? Looks like the Governor got the memo about divide and conquer.

Currently, “we don’t have any training requirements,” said Stacy A. Mayer, O’Malley’s chief legislative officer. “People can walk out of the store not necessarily knowing where the safety is.”

In Rhode Island, buyers have to sign a sheet of paper attesting to the fact that the gun dealer demonstrated the safety features of the firearm. That makes all the difference for gun safety. [/sarcasm] Still, it ain’t registration. Yet.

Maryland legislators are competing with the Governor to see who can create the most draconian gun laws.

One plan would require Maryland gun owners to buy liability insurance similar to the requirement for cars. The proposal by Montgomery County state Sen. Jamie Raskin is designed to harness market forces to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people the same way the cost of car insurance can keep bad drivers off the road. Baltimore Del. Jon Cardin has proposed a bullet tax and $25 gun registration fee, cash that would go to improving mental health services.

Not to be outdone.

O’Malley vowed to ban the sale of military assault weapons that have no place on our streets” and to limit the size of gun magazines to prevent mass shootings. Maryland already limits magazines to 20 bullets, and gun-control advocates hope to halve that.

Or more. Whether they succeed or fail, the “Free State” doesn’t look so free right about now.

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48 COMMENTS

  1. No big surprise. He wants to run for president next time around, as he is term-limited here in Maryland.

    What he proposes, and what the legislature will pass may be two different things.

    Stay tuned.

    • I’m a MD resident, too. The legislative situation is pretty bad. Not hopeless, mind you, but it’s going to take one hell of an effort to derail the AWB portion of his plans, if it’s even possible. We used to be able to kill stuff like this in committee, but the compositions changed, and not in our favor.

      The good news is that, unlike in New York, it doesn’t look like the Republicans in this state are going to roll over, so between them and our pro-gun Democrat friends, we at least have a decent chance of mitigating some damage.

      • yeah, i was going to say, O’Malley’s chief legislative officer is outright lying. it does not apply to EVERYONE, but to they they don’t exist…

      • Have you taken that class? It’s a joke – my cat could pass it.

        I have no problem with requiring a little bit of education. I think that everyone should demonstrate that they know how to safely load, unload, clean and clear a gun before they are allowed to buy one. But this can easily be accomplished in a 15 minutes class taught at a gun range, and certainly shouldn’t require being registered with the state.

  2. Question: didn’t they blame eeevil “assault weapons” for the killings in Connecticut and Colorado? So why is Gov. O’Moaner wanting to ban handguns? BEEEP … DOES NOT COMPUTE …. RE-BOOT ……

    And so the civilian disarmament statists continue dancing in the blood of the victims.

  3. “Currently, “we don’t have any training requirements,” said Stacy A. Mayer, O’Malley’s chief legislative officer. “People can walk out of the store not necessarily knowing where the safety is.””

    And she is lying through her teeth. Anyone purchasing a regulated firearm (all handguns, most forms of AR-15, but not AR-10s) in MD is required to complete an online training and safety course and mail the printed out certification in to the MD State Police. The training is found here http://www.mdgunsafety.com/

    Once again, politicians and their bureaucratic lackeys will lie their heads off to get whatever they want pushed through the legislature.

    • Yep. Now the current “training” isn’t all that comprehensive but saying there is nothing is an outright falsehood.

  4. They don’t even think twice of establishing a “poll” tax do they. It’s getting close to the time to begin negotiating with Texas to see about a new, independent Republic. Some place where the refugees of tyranny can run to.

    • Seeing rumors flyng about Texas telling the FEDS to FOAD.
      haven’t seen anything drop yet though.
      Heck enough fly over states tell the feds where they can stick it, it would pretty much be a succession from the union, with out all the formalities.

  5. Nice to see all the baby-tyrants coming out and crushing their citizens with laws specifically designed to disarm the law-abiding among them. Kind of makes you wonder… if these States are uncomfortable with an Armed population… what is their endstate?

  6. Current Massachusetts laws make those proposals look like something straight out of Texas. With the exception of the liability insurance nonsense (which is currently being batted around by a douche-bag State pol named David Linsky) Massachusetts gun owners already suffer under those regulations.

    So how will all that make Maryland’s laws the strictest??

  7. Of course the Sandy Hook shooter allegedly didn’t shoot all rounds (only 10-15) of his high-capacity magazines between reloads meaning he didn’t really utilize the high-capacity magazines. Of course, new NY legislation considers 8 rounds “high-capacity” now, so I guess it’s moot.

  8. Rather funny in a sad way that all these states where the country was born are the first places where it begins to die.

    Like the sheriff said in that video yesterday, our founding fathers would be ashamed at the state of the country, and even more ashamed that we the people are allowing it to happen.

  9. Currently, “we don’t have any training requirements,” said Stacy A. Mayer, O’Malley’s chief legislative officer. “People can walk out of the store not necessarily knowing where the safety is.”

    this is A TOTAL LIE and a clear indication that they DONT EVEN KNOW the process here in the old line state. there absolutley IS training requerment.
    to buy “regulated” fire arms you need to go to this stupid MDSP website, watch this video and answer questions, then print a pdf, the top portion you send into the MDSP and bring the bottom portion to the store when you purchase or they cant sell the item to you, those who may be intresting in this check out:

    http://www.mdgunsafety.com/

    • I believe he wants what we have in CT. You must go to a 8 to 10hr NRA Safety course and pass the exam and practical shooting portion to get a certificate that then allows you to get a local PD license which then allows you to get a state license.

      • How funny is it that the “NRA is EVIL” while at the same time the reality that they are relied upon (with good reason) compendium and library of all gun safety, training, sporting, and general use? One of these is reality.

        • Good point.

          AND everyone knows mass murder is a safety issue! As in: if only the evil, er careless, ignoramus cum murderer knew the NRA’s first rule!

          All of this (that is short of a true ban with confiscation) is harassment plain and simple.

      • Maybe, but at least you are able to carry concealed after going through that BS. MD residents still have to prove a ‘good and substantial’ reason to be granted a carry permit. Most carry permits that are issued are severely restricted and valid only when performing activities that were used to justify issuance of the permit (e.g., a business owner making cash deposits at the bank). Taxable business income is worth defending with deadly force but your life is not.

  10. Training requirements… so the thought just occurred to me that this means that a nut who wants a gun simply to kill people will now be TRAINED by the state rather than… errr… not (since none of these nuts are sport shooters).

    • “…this means that a nut who wants a gun simply to kill people will now be TRAINED by the state…”

      Pretty much sums up the NYPD

  11. May I inject just a little levity? This was sent to me this morning.

    Its all about Location, location, location:

    In the news this week, a Southern California man was put under 72-hour psychiatric observation when it was found he owned 100 guns and had (by rough estimate) 1 million rounds of ammunition stored in his home. The house also has a secret escape tunnel.

    The television reporter said: “Wow! He has about a million machine gun bullets!” and the headline referred to it as a “massive weapons cache”.

    By California standards someone owning even 100,000 rounds would be called “mentally unstable”.

    If he lived elsewhere, such as Arizona , he’d be called “an avid gun collector.”

    In Oklahoma , he’d be called “a novice gun collector”.

    In Utah , he’d be called “moderately well prepared”, but they’d probably reserve judgment until they made sure that he had a corresponding quantity of stored food.

    In Montana , he’d be called “the neighborhood ‘Go-To’ guy”.

    In Idaho , he’d be called “a likely gubernatorial candidate”.

    In Wyoming , he’d be called “an eligible bachelor”.

    and…

    In Texas , he’d be called “a Hunting Buddy”.

  12. “We have a sickness….” . Yeah Gov, it’s called influenza, and it’s already killed 20 children nationwide and it’ll probably kill 100 before it’s done. That’s many times as many kids who will be accidentlly killed nationwide by firearms in the same period. Are you gonna pass a law banning the flu?
    Another example of a guy who’s been educated far beyond his intelligence.

  13. I hope that WE The People bring to task all of those who have and are trying to violate our birth right. Every thing in the universe has the ability to defend itself and theses things are trying to force a police state on us… The constitution gives us the right to try and convict any and all who make laws contrary to this right… NY is a great place to start, I feel that charges should be brought on everyone who signed off on their current legislation that they just enacted that Infringes on OUR RIGHTS!!! Let them see the truth of violence as they sit in jail with other criminals… Let them see that it’s not guns that cause the violence it’s man that causes it… For those who claim to be following the path of their religion that are for banning and encroaching unjust laws upon the law biding citizens read their books of faith and be reminded that even in the religions of the world we are allowed to defend ourselves from those who attack us… I charge these things to be attacking us unjustly for their own gain and would see them sit in there own jails for this, in their own hell…

  14. I don’t understand this insurance scheme…if my car is stolen I’m not financially responsible for any damage someone causes with it. If I do something illegal with my car, my insurance isn’t going to cover it. How exactly is liability insurance on firearms supposed to work?

  15. Well I guess I need to start looking for somewhere else to live. Anyone in a gun friendly state have a job for a computer scientist that lives near a good IDPA and USPSA club?

    • I’m planning to move to VA. It’s close by, and their politics (not just guns) are more in line with my way of thinking. Plus if you work close enough to the border, you probably wouldn’t even need to switch jobs.

  16. Whether it is Maryland, New York, Connecticut, or whatever, the simple fact is that, with a stroke of a pen, those states want to make an entire class of people instantly become felons for possessing firearms that were previously legal.

    Let me repeat the concept in slightly different words. The elites/majority are declaring an entire class of citizens to be criminals simply because the elites/majority don’t like that class of citizens.

    That behavior is not compatible with a constitutionally limited republic.

  17. Also in that article it points out that in Baltimore (Gov O was mayor) there were 183 gun deaths in 2012 and of those 181 a handgun was used. No mention what the other 2 were from – but odds are shotgun or maybe a hunting rifle. Yet he is pushing “assault weapon” ban. So with the potential AW ban they have the chance to save ZERO lives in Baltimore. Now thats progress.

    I only live 8 miles from PA – looks like a move may be in order…depending on their impending laws.

  18. Curious point though – and I think the devil’s in the details.

    It says that you’d need to have your fingerprints on file with the MSP, this isn’t necessarily the same as a gun registration. I needed to get my fingerprints with the MSP for adoption, that doesn’t mean that they have some sort of adoption registry that lists how many kids we’ve adopted.

    A file at MSP that says “these are Joe Schmo’s fingerprints” is no big deal to me.

    A file that says “these are Joe Schmo’s fingerprints, and he owns guns” is a problem.

  19. I’m from Maryland used to be a free and sporting state before Baltimorons took control of the legislature. Join me in Texas!

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