Md. Senate Panel Set to Shoot Down Smart Guns

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http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17959-2000Mar15.html


Md. Senate Panel Set to Shoot Down Smart Guns
Special Report: Full Post Coverage

By Daniel LeDuc
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 16, 2000; Page B1

A key Senate committee appeared ready to kill a proposal to mandate that all handguns sold in Maryland be high-tech guns designed to be fired only by authorized users, following the first hearing held on the issue yesterday.


Even before testimony began before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, a majority of committee members led by Chairman Walter M. Baker (D-Cecil) said they would vote against a bill that is at the heart of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's agenda for this year's legislative session.


"The technology is not there," said Baker, who comes from a rural Eastern Shore district that dislikes gun control. "Voting for the gun bill where I come from is like committing suicide."


Glendening's bill got a boost last night from President Clinton, who released a letter he had sent to the governor praising his "hard work and leadership and the efforts of so many in the Maryland legislature to make guns safer and keep them out of the hands of children and felons."


The presidential backing came as Glendening administration officials have been working hard to find a compromise that the governor and committee members can live with. Barring agreement, Glendening (D) has been turning to Senate leaders and other legislative allies to find alternative routes for the legislation that still would get it to a vote before the full Senate, where the governor believes it would win approval.


"If the votes aren't there [in committee], there are other ways of getting a bill out, several other ways," Glendening said. He said there were parliamentary maneuvers that allow bills in other committees to be amended with the personalized gun provisions or to have other legislation amended when it's voted on in the full Senate.


The governor also said he expected a filibuster by Senate opponents and was already trying to line up votes to counter it.


Glendening said he expected some changes in the legislation but was resolved to fight against efforts to dilute it. He has grown only firmer since a Potomac Research poll three weeks ago showed that 68 percent of Maryland voters supported his proposal and that 54 percent favored a ban on handgun sales in the state.


By comparison to a ban, Glendening said, "our bill is fairly moderate."


But not enough for key senators, including Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Prince George's), who said that Glendening's plan wouldn't pass as it is now but that a lesser requirement for trigger locks on handguns could.


The Senate committee has yet to schedule a vote on the issue.


Yesterday's hearing comes during a week when gun legislation dominates the agenda. There have been hearings on a proposal to ban handguns as raffle prizes, sparked by the Carroll County Republican Committee's recent raffling of a 9mm Beretta pistol. There have been hearings on a Carroll County senator's proposal to make it easier to carry concealed weapons and on a bipartisan bill to toughen prosecutions of gun crimes.


Also yesterday, the Senate voted to strip $1 million from the state budget that could have gone to Beretta USA, Maryland's only gun manufacturer, for research into safer weapons because the company has resisted the governor's proposal.


Glendening's proposal would require that integrated gun locks be on all new handguns sold in the state beginning in 2002. It also would require that after May 31, 2003--or as soon as the technology was available--all new handguns be "personalized" so that only authorized users could fire them.


Stephen Teret, director of the Center for Gun Policy and Research at Johns Hopkins University, showed the Senate committee advertisements from a handgun manufacturer and a shotgun maker that touted new integrated locks and personalizing features. "We're not talking about something that's a far-fetched idea," he said. "We're talking about reality."


Opponents insist the technology is years away from fruition--if it ever will be available. Executives from Beretta say they are researching personalized guns but have yet to find any system as reliable as simple trigger locks now easily available.


The electronics will make handguns more expensive, putting them out of the reach of those who need them, especially women and African Americans in poor neighborhoods, said Yale University researcher John Lott, who argues that having more guns in society reduces crime.


"You go and add a couple of hundred dollars onto the price of a gun, and those are the people who are going to be discriminated against," he said.


© 2000 The Washington Post Company
 
Governor looks for way to get gun bill to floor
Judicial committee might be bypassed on safety legislation

By Michael Dresser
Sun Staff

Gov. Parris N. Glendening, asserting that Maryland is in a "death struggle" with gun
violence, vowed yesterday to bypass a conservative committee if necessary to ensure a
Senate vote on his gun safety legislation.

As the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee held a hearing on the Smart Guns bill,
Glendening acknowledged that he would not be able to get the six votes he needs from
the panel to send a "strong" bill to the Senate floor.

He said he was working with Senate leaders to devise an alternative strategy.

"This is going to be a long struggle, but it's worth fighting," Glendening said. He added
that he expected a filibuster and was rounding up votes to break one.

The bill would require handguns sold in Maryland to be equipped with devices to
prevent them from being fired by unauthorized users.

By 2002, new handguns would have to have built-in locks. More advanced devices,
using fingerprints or other means to "recognize" the authorized user, would be required
when such personalized guns are commercially available, possibly as early as 2003.

In addition, the legislation would require manufacturers to record the "ballistic
fingerprint" of each gun so that any used in crimes could be traced to their owners. The
governor is also proposing mandatory gun safety classes and a ban on the resale of
police service weapons.

Glendening acknowledged that any bill he could get to the Senate floor "will probably
not have everything I want in there." He did not say what he would consider a strong
bill.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said he intends to work with Judicial
Proceedings but would not rule out finding another route to the floor for the bill. He
cautioned that Glendening has to expect changes, saying the bill in its current form
wouldn't be approved by any Senate committee.

At yesterday's hearing, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and state police
Superintendent David B. Mitchell were among witnesses supporting the governor's bill,
saying it would save lives.

A long-standing proponent of such legislation, Stephen Teret of the Johns Hopkins
University Center for Gun Policy and Research, said one manufacturer has the
capability to ship a gun with a built-in lock by this summer.

"We're not talking about something that's some far-fetched idea," he said.

Gun-rights advocates heaped scorn on the bill, calling it a ban in disguise and warning
that the technology it envisions would have dangerous unintended consequences.

Sanford Abrams, vice president of the Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association,
said that if only "smart" guns are available to civilians, criminals will go to great lengths
to obtain conventional weapons from police officers. Officers "will be targets for
assassination," Abrams said.

Jeffrey Reh, general counsel for Maryland-based Beretta U.S.A. Corp., said that after
extensive study, Beretta had not found internal locking technology that it felt was
acceptable to build into its products. He said such guns would be expensive, in effect
restricting gun ownership.

Dennis Fusaro, director of state and local affairs for Gun Owners of America, appeared
with his son Andrew, 12, to denounce the bill as the "burglar protection act." Fusaro said
that he began teaching Andrew at age 6 how to handle guns and that he does not believe
in keeping guns locked up.

"I would argue that families and parents should be able to decide how firearms are
stored in their homes," he said.

Said Andrew: "My mom and dad want me to have access to firearms, including
handguns, to help defend my home."

Originally published on Mar 16 2000
 
I read that to DZ, There has been ssssssoooooo much this week in both papers that I cant remember all the garbage that is written. Every time the SUN calls up for me to subscribe,(which WAS about every other day) I say sure, If you can answer a few ?'s

1) why doesn't the sun post gun ad's
2) why is the SUN so against guns

And maybe a few more depending on the mood that I am in.

I always get a "I'm not sure" answer, so in return I ask that I am not called untill the can give me a answer.
 
yep its coming in waves!

heres something from MD alert:
>You're going to see a lot of press about the governor taking up his
>marbles and going to another committee to get a gun bill to his liking.
>It's true. The way this will play out, we have two lines of defense to
>hold, after which the governor gets ALL that he wants. The first line
>is in the Budget & Tax Committee ... that's where he wants to move his
>bill out, so it can be amended to include smartguns on the floor. The
>next hurdle for him is a filibuster on the senate floor. If he can get
>past that, we're toast.
>
>Here is a list of key players involved in those defenses. We have the
>rest counted, we know what they will do, now we need the following to
>pack the gear needed to defend liberty. That's where you come in.
>
>TIE UP THEIR PHONES. Call and use up their time telling how you don't
>want any new gun control. If one of these offices doesn't take your name
>then make the other calls and then call back again fresh as if someone
>else. If they take your name, well, wait a while and do the right thing.
>Get 100 of your friends to do the same.
>
>If there is any one thing you ever do for me as a result of being on
>this list, then this is it. Really, now is the time to pour it on. We
>HAVE gotten good feedback about some calls already to other offices,
>and we ARE able to gain ground in Annapolis with this so far. GIVE US
>MORE TO WORK WITH.
>
>In haste ...
>
>Jim
>
>Dial toll free: 800 492 7122
>(In urban areas call 301 858 xxxx or 410 841 xxxx )
>
>DIST SENATOR EXT
>28 Middleton 3616
>13 Madden 3572
>27 Miller 3700
>29 Dyson 3673
>32 Degrange 3593
>33 Neall 3568
>39 Hogan 3686
> 8 Bromwell 3620
 
this too:
Before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing was over we
learned that Glendening held a press conference to announce that he
would initiate several parliamentary moves to bring the smart gun bill
to the Senate floor.

In other words an end run around Walter Baker's Senate JPR Committee.
This is particularly offensive in that it circumvents the committee
process. Further, the announcement was made even before the hearing
ended. Glendening's bill wasn't going anywhere and he knew it. In fact
the bill's supporters did more damage to the bill's chances than the
opponents did.

HERE IS WHAT YOU MUST DO!

1. Call your senator and delegates and insist that the committee process
be honored and any attempt at an end run be defeated. If bill can
bounce from committee to committee there is no point in the committee
system. Tell them to respect the jurisdiction of the Senate Judicial
Proceedings Committee.

2. Call every talk radio station and put this on the agenda. Even if
the show's announced topic is something else, enoungh calls will change
the agenda. Talk show hosts want to talk about what people want to talk
about.

3. Don't forget to drive home the recent story in the 3/15 Washington
Times that the Gov's firearms data came from Handgun Control and HCI had
"accidentally doubled the numbers" How Clintonesque...
 
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