Gun safety provisions Gov. O'Malley enacted in Maryland introduced as legislation in Congress

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Legislation has been introduced into the US House of Representatives to encourage more states to enact gun laws similar to Maryland. It's sponsored by 8th District Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who says these types of laws help curb gun violence. He says a study conducted by Johns Hopkins University found that a similar law in Connecticut is working. "But one of the holes in these laws is that they're only covered in the states that pass them. And that still leads an open door to guns coming in from other states," he says.

Van Hollen says his bill would encourage states to set up these types of laws. "The provision I put in and recommend is a bill to help states cover the costs of setting up these systems. They're pretty simple, but we don't want the cost of setting these systems up to be an impediment for states moving forward, " he says.

Van Hollen made the announcement about his bill on Wednesday during an event in Towson marking the second anniversary of the Maryland Firearm Safety Act. The legislation was passed and signed into law by former Governor Martin O'Malley in 2013. It would require first time handgun buyers to submit to a fingerprint background check. It also bans 45 types of assault weapons and limits gun magazines to ten rounds.

"This is going require a lot of grass roots effort, people mobilizing in different states around the country. But people are absolutely fed up with the fact that we have so many people dying from gun violence which is a preventable cause of death through common sense measures like this," says Van Hollen.

read: http://www.wfmd.com/articles/wfmd-local-news-119935/van-hollen-introduces-gun-bill-13993175


Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh and other officials urged more states Wednesday to adopt strict handgun purchasing laws, pointing to Johns Hopkins research that shows permit requirements are associated with reductions in gun deaths.

The 2013 Maryland law requires handgun buyers to get a license from state police and pass a fingerprint-based background check. Among other provisions, it banned the sale of assault weapons and magazines with more than 10 bullets. Then-Gov. Martin O'Malley sought the law after the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Daniel Webster, director of the gun policy center, said there is not enough data to know the full effect of the 2013 Maryland law. Webster noted that "concentrated disadvantage" in Baltimore has been linked to violent crime.

"A piece of gun legislation won't undo all of that," Webster said. "But if we want to see change in places like Baltimore, if you want to see investment in Baltimore, you have to stop the bloodshed first. ... It is not technically a root cause, but if you're going address these root-cause situations, you must address the availability of guns that terrorize communities."

read: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-gun-violence-effort-20150930-story.html


“We can pass laws that will reduce gun deaths here in Maryland. But we can reduce them even more in Maryland and around the country if other states follow suit,” 8th District Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said at a press conference at the Baltimore County Courthouse.

He and other Maryland officials spoke on the eve of the second anniversary of a sweeping Maryland gun control law that outlawed assault weapons, limited ammunition magazines to 10 rounds and tightened handgun licensing requirements. The law was passed in response to the December 2012 mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that killed 26 people...

This step to encourage other states to implement gun laws identical to Maryland comes weeks after former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley called for cutting the deaths due to gun-violence in half over the next decade.

O’Malley said that the national age requirement for all handgun purchases and possession should be increased from 18 to 21.

A candidate for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, O’Malley said that a national arms registry should be set up to track guns associated with violence and death. He discussed a comprehensive strategy with gun control advocates and people affected by gun violence at a roundtable in New York earlier this month.

read: http://patch.com/maryland/towson/lawmakers-take-stand-guns-baltimore-county-0

related:

Martin O'Malley's Comprehensive Plan for Preventing and Reducing Gun Violence
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251592581
https://martinomalley.com/the-latest/preventing-and-reducing-gun-violence/

Opinion | Martin O’Malley: Congress needs to act on gun reform
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/07/24/martin-malley-congress-needs-act-gun-reform/VHwtYH6qor1wVsy4u1n2mJ/story.html

The laws Gov. O'Malley shepherded through the Md. legislature and signed include:

- Ban on magazines (an ammunition storage and feeding device) that hold more than 10 bullets;
- Ban on 45 types of semiautomatic (weapons that reload automatically but fire only once when the trigger is pulled) rifles, classifying them as assault weapons;
- Requirement that people seeking to buy any gun other than a hunting rifle or shotgun to obtain a license, submit fingerprints to police, undergo a background check and pass classroom and firing-range training;
- Ban on any rifle that has two of three characteristics — 1) Folding stock, which makes the weapon more compact for storage or transport; 2) Grenade launcher; or 3) Flash suppressor, which protects the eyesight of the shooter in low-light shooting conditions.

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1. kick

[TeddyR]

2. What's the justification

For a limit on the number of rounds a magazine can hold? If 10 is good why not 2 (or 11, or 9 or whatever)? Limiting to 10 is simply plucking a random number out of thin air.

There's zero chance that a red state will adopt these types of laws, and little chance a purple state like Virginia, Colorado or North Carolina will. In fact, the clear trend nationwide is to relax gun control laws.

And O'Malley's laws REALLY helped in Baltimore this year -- Google "Baltimore murder rate 2015" and you get results like "Baltimore's homicide explosion" and "Baltimore's homicide rate reaches ALL-TIME HIGH."

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3. what we need is national reform

...a sizable number of the weapons which fall into the hands of criminals and others who abuse them or do harm are imports from states surrounding our towns, communities, and neighborhoods here in Md.. Our state has lead the way with some of the strictest reforms in the nation. It remains for others to act responsibly to enact state reforms and support national gun safety legislation.

[Chan790]

4. They're doing wonders in CT.

CT's violent crime rate is down <10% (a cumulative 19%) for two consecutive years after passing similar legislation. Hartford has an increase in its murder rate but the rate of non-gun murders has increased while firearm-related deaths has held steady. As for what "Red States" will pass, I care not. The goal is to pass such laws nationally. Eventually, they will trickle into existence in red and purple states whether the public there wants them or not.

Personally, I am all in favor of going further to withhold federal block-grant funds earmarked for law enforcement from states that do not pass these kinds of gun-control initiatives. It will cajole some states into passing such laws and conservatives in other redder states can be happy they reduced federal spending right up until their violent crime rates increase and they lack the tools to combat those increases.

[Lurks Often]

5. It will die in some committee

While I am sure this sounds great to some here, it isn't going to help Democrats win in swing states in 2016.

As for 2) Grenade launcher: People can't own rifle propelled grenades, they would be considered a destructive device by the ATF and that's presuming they are still being made, which I doubt. So can someone please explain how banning a rifle that was capable of firing now non-existent rifle grenades is going to help public safety and reduce crime?