(7-27-2005) With officials asleep at the switch, three Glendening-appointed members of the Handgun Permit Review board were allowed to continue processing (and denying) carry permit applications which came before them for most of this calendar year. The practice ended late July with the appointment of two new members and the re-appointment of the board chairman, choices which sparked new controversy in the administration’s handling of gun issues.
These selections were made to achieve political or social ends, not to issue permits. (Had officials been interested in the latter, they might have consulted with groups like the NRA, which sought, but was denied input to, the process.)
Upon learning that Chairman Rolinda Collinson has been reappointed, applicants who had been denied permits under her tenure expressed both disappointment and surprise that the administration would be happy with her track record. Along with her husband (himself a political appointee of Anne Arundel County Executive Janet Owens), Collinson is active in south county Democratic politics, but has no known connection to the gun community, and is described by staff as their “diversity” appointment.
The administration has apparently balanced Collinson’s unfathomable selection by pairing her with the appointment of Roy Tarbutton. Tarbutton is active in the Stoney Creek Fishing & Hunting Club in Pasadena, and historically has been one of the go-to resources tasked with delivering area hunters and shooters for the GOP. His selection puts him on the hook to produce again in 2006, and is seen by some as intended to placate a politically active club that has been frustrated by poor treatment from the Maryland Department of the Environment over range noise issues.
Rounding out the board will be new appointee Charles Washington, a retired DC cop who now lives in Prince George’s County. Whether this PG Democrat brings the District’s gun-grabbing sensibilities with him to the board remains to be seen, but the community’s terrible experiences with “retired DC cops” in Maryland gun politics is sufficient reason for concern in the eyes of most. Washington’s chief qualification for the position seems to be that he is related by marriage to the governor’s Press Secretary.
Collinson, Tarbutton and Washington join earlier Ehrlich appointees Greg Redmer (Baltimore county Republican) and William Kunkel (Democrat and retired Harford county sherrif) to complete the Permit Review Board.
ANALYSIS: Folks in our community should not get hopes up about what any appointments to this board could mean. The key to administrative recognition of Right to Carry lies inside Maryland State Police. MSP’s determination of “need” can be swayed by Review Board action, but when push comes to shove, it is MSP – not the board – which carries the weight before a judge. (The recent Scherr decision only reinforces this dynamic.) Remember, cases only get to the board upon appeal – after the damage has been done, not least of which in terms of cost and time. Add to that the fact that board counsel is provided by the state’s gun-grabbing Attorney General “Poppa Joe” Curran, and you can understand why even a well-intentioned board can only have marginally good effect.