www.myguns.net

CAMPAIGN TRACK

This is a great election climate for us in Maryland, since this year more than any other in recent history we see voters paying attention to issues. Wow, issues count! Now that firearm issues might actually crop up in campaigns, we'll do our best to track them here so you can see how they are portrayed throughout the year.

• Tripwire exclusive of 2010-06-15 Eric Wargotz, competing in the GOP primary to take on Barbara Mikulski for US Senate, will use this radio spot to declare his position on the Second Amendment. CLICK FOR DOWNLOAD (Requires MP3 player.)

PHOTO GALLERY

Keeping the firearm community in ammunition

(2010-07-07) Once-fired brass cases from the US military represent a major source of components in the commercial ammunition market, which purchases surplus and makes it available to consumers either in low-cost re-manufactured ammo or as components for hobbyists to handload their own ammunition. Unfortunately a DoD policy change threatened this market, as it would require brass cases to be destroyed and sold as scrap rather than used again in ammunition.

A big thanks to Frank Kratovil, one of only a dozen Congressmen (and the only from Maryland) who successfully sponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act to bar the policy change and hence keep the ammunition components available. This helps firearm owners and tax payers! Bravo!

Self defense in Suitland

(2010-07-07) A man saves a neighbor and himself from home invaders ... and police investigate him for firearms issues. CLICK FOR DETAILS

Good news from the Supreme Court

(2010-06-28) In a 5-4 decision on McDonald v Chicago the US Supreme Court confirmed that our Second Amendment right is "incorporated", which is to say, it binds the actions of states and localities - not just the federal government. (Update 2010-07-06) CLICK FOR ANALYSIS of its impact in Maryland.

MPFO announces "last call" for tickets on spring rifle raffle fund raiser ...

(2010-06-15) Only a little time remaining to get your tickets for the spring fund raiser. (Of course donations arriving later will be applied to the next event - after all, this is the election year, we can't afford to slack off!) (Update 2010-07-01) It's a wrap! The spring raffle is concluded, and will be pulled shortly. Thanks for all help making this one yet another success, but please keep those donations coming in - we are putting them all to immediate good use for the Cause! And the next raffle will be kicked off momentarily - a Fulton Armory "Liberator" style AR-15 carbine.

Attorney General opinion limits state police overreach in Maryland assault weapon laws

(2010-05-26) Responding to a Maryland State Police request first transmitted last summer, Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler has issued an opinion concerning the scope of "assault weapon" definitions that will have the effect of reining in MSP efforts to apply restrictions broadly. Maryland treats specific long guns (as enumerated in a law dating back to 1989) as "assault weapons" - a rifle or shotgun gains such a status by virtue of appearing on the list, which then treats them as if handguns for purposes of one-gun-a-month restrictions, waiting periods and more. However last year MSP began enforcing these restrictions on other firearms, such as .22 rimfire rifles that only had cosmetics of firearms on the list. This week's opinion makes clear that the standard for becoming an "assault weapon" must involve similarity of the mechanism and compatibility of internal parts (for which there is a provision in law to treat such firearms as restricted look-alikes.) MSP will still have discretion to make such a determination, but it will be far more limited in what it can do, and will be subject to administrative review procedures as well. This is a victory for any citizen interested in fair and equitable application of existing laws.

Governor O'Malley signs civil immunity bill into law

(2010-05-20) Along with hundreds of other bills at a ceremony this morning, Governor Martin O'Malley signed SB411 into law, a measure that will give civil immunity to anyone who must use force in defense of home or business from violent invasion. As previously reported this is a measure for which we've advocated for many years, so it is very satisfying to see this day. Maryland policy needs so many other reforms, and there is much heavy lifting yet to do, but this is a great step and one for which we sincerely say to all officials who made this happen, thank you.

John Lott's new edition More Guns, Less Crime is out!

(2010-05-12) We think highly of this research, which is detailed yet accessible to anyone interested in firearm policy. Years have passed since the last comprehensive review of the effect of gun laws, during which fundamental changes have occurred - not least of which, the sunset of a national ban on so-called "assault weapons." This book covers it all and brings us up to date. Required reading for activists! (See the lower right sidebar for a direct link to buy on-line at Amazon.)

Still waiting for civil immunity bill to become law

(2010-05-03) The Governor's list of bills to be signed at tomorrow's ceremony is out, and the civil immunity bill does not appear. That leaves only one more session for Governor O'Malley to sign it into law.

Analysis of the 2010 Maryland Legislative Session

(2010-04-16) This last session of the four-year term was marked by a needless battle over handgun permits, wrangling over expansions of gun laws and penalties, and more nibbling around the edges of our rights. But it also saw passage of a nice civil liability bill, and no fundamental losses for our community. CLICK FOR FULL ANALYSIS

It's over! Maryland General Assembly adjourns.

(2010-04-13) At the stroke of midnight - or as close as they could get while squeezing one last bill through into passage - the General Assembly in Annapolis concluded its ninety day session, the last of this four year term. As previously reported, their work included passage of a good civil liability bill, to protect homeowners and businessmen who must use force in self defense, and several county-specific noise bills, that in some cases (but not all!) could have dramatic impact on shooters in those localities. The closing hours saw one unexpected effort to amend the Haines 'get tough on guns' bill - already a bad bill that we opposed - to include a broad assortment of additional penalties measures, the full shopping list from gun grabbers in Baltimore City and Prince George's County. This is why we always see the session through - the attack was blunted and died. The status of all bills that we tracked has been updated at the Direct Action page. As usual, we'll have a full report of the session in our upcoming newsletter.

MPFO Announces Winner of Winter Rifle Raffle

(2010-04-09) Congratuations to Howard McComas of Abingdon, MD, who MPFO announces is winner of its Winter fund raising event, bringing Howard Fulton Armory's magnificent M1 Garand rifle. CLICK FOR DETAILS OF RECENT WINNERS, and of course be sure to see details of the current fund raiser elsewhere on this page!

Freedom is noisy

(2010-04-09) Maryland's recent legislative session featured several small adjustments to noise law in order to allow for local enforcement. These bills were not reported by NRA or other gun groups, and in fact our reporting on them was attacked by some operations that serve as GOP front groups. Nevertheless the firearms community has a strong interest in noise and other environmental measures that are handled by the state. HERE'S WHY.

Omnibus gun control bill killed in House Committee

(2010-03-26) Today the House Judiciary voted an "unfavorable report" to HB 820, the so-called "permits bill" that (along with a host of other measures) would have mandated prospective handgun purchasers to get a permit from MSP in advance of receiving a regulated firearm. This effectively kills the cross-filed bill in the Senate, SB645. This was the single worst threat to liberties of the session so this is obviously very good news!

In other action, one of the modest 'castle bills' (that would give some relief from civil liability to anyone who must use reasonable force in defense from an attack in home or business) passed second reader, which means it is poised for one more vote to clear the senate and advance to the other house. Unfortuately just upstream from that bill is SB44, a penalties bill jointly sponsored by the Baltimore City administration and Carroll County's Senator Larry Haines. This is a measure whose sole purpose is to hold a bigger hammer over the head of an accused gun owner to intimidate him into pleading rather than argue a case that might otherwise be brought against him as a malicious prosecution. To repeat some recent good news, SB191 (the "Weapon-Free Higher Education Zones" bill) that we opposed was voted unfavorable.

Baltimore City delegation adopts Carroll County’s Senator Larry Haines

(2010-03-18) ... or so it seemed, as the bill to which all City officials flocked (and to which Jessamy addressed her incorrect remarks) was his SB44. This bill proposes to expand the scope of mandatory minimum penalties for crimes involving firearms, and to increase penalties. There is no objective reason to believe it would have public safety value, and its chief use would be to hold a bigger hammer over the head of people charged with a crime, hoping to intimidate them into a plea bargain. (Since the City’s track record of winning cases on their merits is poor, we understand why intimidation is preferred over actually building a real case.) As mentioned last month, we have consistently opposed such bills as a hit to our issue advocacy: We teach people to focus on crime, not guns. Haines teaches people to focus on the gun. And as we have written time and again, mandatory multipliers only create injustices that are costly to correct, if at all, as we saw in the case of Baltimore’s Nathanial Hurt some years back. Though representing a conservative part of the state, Haines is a big-government Republican (a difference perhaps not clear in liberal circles.) Nevertheless any right-leaning official would normally recognize City praise as an objective clue that a gun bill is flawed.

Where did she get that law degree again?

(2010-03-18) In April 2008 we lampooned public testimony of Baltimore State’s Attorney Pat Jessamy, who advocated for new penalties bills by saying: “You can be a convicted felon and legally possess a shotgun in Maryland.” There are so many ways that statement is just wrong, and you’d have to wonder if someone so out of touch with her job would even notice if we did pass a new law. Unfortunately, nobody in either her office or the legislature bothered to fill her in then, since she gave much the same testimony in February: “...[I]t is still legal for a convicted felon to legally possess a rifle, and to walk down a street in Baltimore.” Note to Pat: Look up 18 USC 922(g). Note to Baltimore’s voters: Maybe one reason you have a crime problem there is that your top prosecutor simply doesn’t know what is against the law. Think about it this November.

Anti-semitic attacks have no place in pro-gun advocacy

(2010-03-13) We read with disgust this morning's Sun report that anti-semitic and abusive fliers had been sent to the homes of each sponsor of this year's omnibus gun control bill of greatest concern. According to the report, the fliers were also sent to constituents of each legislator. There is no rational circumstance that could justify such a stupid act, which will inevitably reflect poorly on the firearms community as a whole. Very likely this will only make it more difficult for us to stop the legislation based on its merits. We will still strongly oppose these bills. We will also continue to oppose inappropriate attacks on people who, in openly advocating for their views in good faith, exercise the same rights that allow us to advocate our views.

MPFO announces Spring Rifle Raffle Fund Raiser

(2010-03-06) The MPFO winter rifle raffle is a wrap! The winner will be drawn and announced shortly. In the mean time, don't miss a beat - tickets are now available for the next raffle. This prize will be a Fulton Armory M14! Now is the time to fill the war chest, as gun control is being consider this week in Annapolis. Purchasing permits for handguns? New noise restrictions on outdoor shooting in some localities? New and expensive regulations on gun dealers? The only way to have influence on what sorts of proposals like this and more officials will submit tomorrow is to influence elections today. Make your most generous donations to MPFO, Maryland's only political action committee dedicated to the Second Amendment. CLICK FOR DETAILS