Maryland going from bad to worse for gunowners' rights

My N.C. concealed-carry permit is good in 30 states that have full reciprocity rights for North Carolina permit holders, but Maryland ain't one of them. Apparently this enclave is trying to outdo Washington D.C. as one of the worst places in the nation for gun owners.

The Washington Times offers this editorial update on plans by the Maryland gun-grabbers.

The gun grabbers are at it again in Maryland. Next month, the state's House Judiciary Committee will initiate hearings on legislation forcing firearms enthusiasts to register with the state government before they can exercise their Second Amendment rights.

The plan, drafted by Delegate Samuel I. Rosenberg, Baltimore Democrat, and Sen. Brian E. Frosh, Montgomery County Democrat, would mandate that citizens carry a special license while conducting any number of routine transactions involving a gun.

To obtain a gun license, a person must fill out a long application form, attend a comprehensive firearms safety course, pay a nonrefundable fee to the state and wait 30 days for the completion of a criminal background check. If all items are processed properly, the Maryland State Police would drop the license in the mail.

It would become a crime to go to a gun range and rent a firearm for a little target shooting without this license in hand. Out-of-state visitors who might want to keep up their skills while on vacation would be out of luck under the proposal because they would not even be allowed to apply for a state gun license.

The bill would make it a crime on par with murder, kidnapping, rape and extortion for a private party to sell his own gun to someone who has no license. It also would give police the authority to seize the e-mail, cell phone and other records of anyone merely suspected of selling or renting a gun in Maryland without a license. This is an extreme reaction to conduct that is perfectly legal in most states and should be a constitutional right anywhere in the Land of the Free.

It's obvious that Mr. Rosenberg and Mr. Frosh are not really interested in stopping criminals from obtaining weapons. Instead, this misguided proposal plainly is designed to harass legitimate gun owners with bureaucracy and paperwork until they simply give up on the idea of exercising their legal rights. Readers should let the measure's proponents know what they think. Mr. Frosh is available at 301/ 858-3102, brian.frosh@senate.state.md.us, and Mr. Rosenberg can be reached at 301/858-3179, samuel.rosenberg@ house.state.md.us.

When the sweet wife and I travel north to Pittsburgh to visit her daughter and our granddaughter, even though the wife's sister lives in Baltimore we do not go through Maryland due to the stupid gun laws of that state. Sounds like it's fixin' to get worse before it gets better.

There are now 40 out of the 50 states that have "shall issue" conceal-carry laws or have no restrictions on carry, like the great state of Alaska, but the other 10 all range from bad to worse, most notable being New York, Massachusetts, California and Illinois, particularly Chicago.

What the powers that be in those states do to gun owners is what the gun-grabbers wish to do to us all.

If you're a gun owner and not a member of the NRA, you oughta be ashamed of yourself. You can join up now as an associate member for free. The NRA has led the fight to get us where we are now, from the first big fight in Florida back in the '80s to 40 out of 50 states now where gun owners can freely exercise their rights of self-defense with concealed-carry permits. (Or maybe it's 57 states in the union. How did somebody get elected President who thinks we got 57 states?)