(2010-04-16) A good session for us, and one not untypical of an election year. Here is what happened, what didn’t … and why.
Civil liability. We’ll start with the good news. The General Assembly passed SB 411, a measure sponsored by Mac Middleton and 21 of his senatorial colleagues that will give civil immunity to someone who must use force in defense of home or business. This means that a thug may not finish in court an assault he started in someone’s home – he can’t collect for damages that might result from a homeowner taking care of business. This is not a full-blown ‘castle bill’ that would also give strong protection against criminal charges. The reality is that a Marylander who must use force to survive home invasion will end up dragged through the legal system to, in effect, prove his innocence. We nevertheless see SB 411 as a good first step and hope Gov. O’Malley signs it into law.
This measure has been years in coming. It has been submitted many times in various forms, and each time failed for different reasons. Twice a version went entirely through one house only to run out of time in the other. Sometimes it suffered ‘sponsorship issues’ or proposed too aggressive a change. Most forms of it trace back to 1998 when, after reading about the idea in Tripwire, Vickie Schade put in HB 1249, with co-sponsorship by Delegates Bob Baldwin, Mike Burns, Jim Ports and Jim Rzepkowski. We’re grateful to them for starting it, to friends who kept it alive in lean years and of course to Senator Middleton for taking the lead this year, putting all the pieces in place for a win.
Permits. Another piece of good news stems from a measure that did not pass. A proposal to mandate that would-be handgun purchasers first obtain a permit from MSP was ultimately voted down in House committee. Another classic Annapolis omnibus bill, this would have expanded health record disclosures of handgun purchasers, increased firearm dealer reporting obligations and more. While many gun control bills are hardy perennials, such as is the assault weapons ban (withdrawn early in session) this was the first year we saw this one. So where did it come from? Right now it appears this was simply a ‘love note’ from Brian Frosh, anti-gun Chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, back to a small group that had been creating political bluster in the senator’s Montgomery County district over the last year. With the stroke of a pen, Frosh spent no political capital of his own, yet triggered an immensely expensive defensive effort from real pro-gun organizations. (Wow. Guess that group showed Frosh.)
That doesn’t mean there were not awkward moments. Two groups announced that they had joined forces this year, AGC (Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore – a front group for the GOP when it comes to political affairs) and MSI (Maryland Shall Issue – the group that likely triggered a permit bill in the first place, and while ostensibly pro-gun is still on record as willing to accept an assault weapons ban in trade for a vote on carry legislation.) It isn’t yet clear which of the two now runs the other. Nevertheless, when a permits bill first appeared the pair swung into action and distributed talking points that had nothing to do with the bill’s contents. (It is generally better if advocates read a bill before sending alerts.) Because of AGC’s apparent ties with national political groups, this resulted in a great deal of electronic mail, little of it from Maryland, to legislators who were confused by protests over non-existent proposals on a topic that would never come to their committee in the first place. Most such email denounced a supposed plan to put a special notation or brand on all gun owners’ driver licenses, an idea nowhere to be found in the Frosh bill.
By itself that would only be embarrassing, but highly amused liberals leveraged the confusion to press for a bill they originally didn’t think was viable. Bogus feedback from faux constituents made it easier to discount all gun email, and proponents told committee members to think of the bill as only expanding dealer reporting obligations (the so-called ‘Sandy Abrams provisions.’) Making things worse, MSI officers then distributed anti-Semitic fliers attacking Frosh, with some apparently even mailed to his home and neighbors. The danger was real that pro-gun legislators might be forced to concede something rather than appear tied with anti-Semites. A permit bill we anticipated would languish had to be (and was) quickly voted down – far more expensive politically, but with necessary finality.
The same players from yesteryear witnessed for this year’s gun control bills. Daniel Webster once again debased the quality of research at Johns Hopkins University by asserting his paid-advocacy positions as science. Richard Willis testified for it on behalf of Marylanders Against Handgun Abuse. The usual small circle of liberal busybodies put the Presbytery of Baltimore, Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, Baltimore Interfaith Coalition, United Methodist Church, Maryland Catholic Conference and Evangelical Lutheran Church on record as favoring oppression.
Explosives. As previously reported, a bill to expand explosives laws, which would have let the state clamp down on certain reactive targets used only by shooters, was voted down in committee. (At issue are otherwise safe and inert materials that, when combined, give a report when struck by a bullet.) A technical bill, it was submitted by the otherwise pro-gun Delegate Jim Malone on behalf of the fire marshal in what he was led to believe was a simple public safety matter. On its surface, the bill makes no mention of firearms (but this is why we study all the bills.)
What the fire marshal failed to mention in asking Malone for the bill is that neither the feds (who already have more than a little leverage when it comes to restricting explosives) nor any other state are concerned enough about such ‘binary products’ to impose controls. Maryland would have been first, needlessly so. Jim Malone, who was greatly concerned to learn the rest of the story, remains a friend of our community. We appreciate him working with us.
Penalties and scope. A number of bills addressing firearm crimes or penalties were in the hopper. Several proposed to duplicate federal law into state law, in order to help prosecutors salvage weak cases by having even more charges to pile on (hoping a suspect will plead rather than risk going to trial.) Prosecutors with strong cases don’t need help – lowering the bar only lets weak prosecutors bring marginal cases, that we know historically means more problems with civil rights violations. These laws encourage sloppy police work too, as cops go for the cheap bust. Other bills proposed to increase penalties, especially by expanded mandatory minimum penalties, without having any prospect of improved public safety – their use was solely to let officials rant about how they are getting tough on guns.
We opposed these bills, and are happy to report the failure of all over which we had concern. The closest any came to passage was the proposal from Senator Larry Haines to expand the scope of mandatory minimum penalties for use of firearms in a crime (having all the problems as reported last month.) This bill passed the Senate by a wide margin (after all – everyone has cover to vote for an expansion of big government when the bill sponsor can rise to say those words that always make us cringe: “I’m a loyal life member of the NRA, but …”) However, it was queued for consideration in House committee. Everyone expected it to die there, and so was surprised when the committee took it up with three hours remaining in session. They had great sport with it, amending onto it the Baltimore City and Prince George’s County shopping lists to make more ways gun possession could be illegal: “So you guys want to make a statement about getting tough on guns? Let’s all do it together!” A bit of scrambling and one GOP panic attack later, the session ended without the bill going further. Thus ended the GOP flirtation with gun bills.
Noise. The Harford County noise bill, on which we reported previously, passed in the session’s final hours with one additional amendment. Recall that this proposal would give the Harford sheriff power to enforce state noise laws, a measure requested by locals in order to address a perceived issue with use of ATVs and dirt bikes. Our concern of course was that this could also affect shooting activities, which is why we were pleased that the committee handling this bill exempted established ranges. Delegate JB Jennings recognized this still left other landowners exposed; he was able to further amend the bill to protect shooters and hunters, which is how the measure passed. Bravo!
No shooting exceptions, however, in Calvert County noise legislation. Two bills passed and say essentially the same thing: they will allow county commissioners to create their own noise rules, provided they are no less stringent than state law and that any penalty for violation would be a civil fine (no more than $10,000.) Senator Mike Miller sponsored one bill, with the House version by Delegates Sue Kullen, James Proctor and Joe Vallario (and “no position” by delegation member Tony O’Donnell.) Both bills passed overwhelmingly, which is normal for ‘local consideration’ bills. If signed into law, then shooting activities there will soon be fully in hands of commissioners.
Right to carry. A carry bill passed! Well, a transport bill anyway. Sort of. As readers know, present state law limits your transport of handguns only to and from ranges, shops and limited other circumstances. This session legislators expanded that list to guarantee you the right to transport your unloaded firearms directly to police for the purpose of turning them in. Seems they discovered that it is against the law to do that now (yes, from citizens being busted for doing just that!) They don’t want impediments to people turning in their guns in the future. Okay, not quite what we had in mind, but this year’s poor handling of right to carry once again pushed off any real reform that we want.
And all the rest … They approved a bill that will let firearm dealers process handgun transfer paperwork via the web. We opposed this as effectively letting MSP outsource the data entry task, to improve records in their database and have more staff time to put into anti-gun operations. Unfortunately this was supported by industry and the GOP. Liberals are always happy for help passing bills that let police squeeze gunowners. This passed by a wide margin.
The proposed expansion of “weapon free zones” to include college campuses failed – again. It garnered absolutely no testimony in support, much less any analysis that would suggest it could have public safety merit. Why is it in? It makes a statement (never mind that the statement is “we sponsors don’t actually understand what we sign.”) It will be back if Delegate Ben Barnes – who pioneered this bill in previous years – is back. Remember in November.
Incrementalism continued. Last year they made it easier to issue a protective order (and confiscate someone’s guns in the process.) This year they increased how long protective orders – and firearm restrictions – can be sustained.
Finally, what of Senator Muse’s excellent proposal to establish professional standards for training and character education of police who serve on SWAT teams? This bill failed in the face of strong opposition from police, who like just fine the present system which condones boys to be boys as they kick doors without standards or character.