Gun Supporters Battling Back in Maryland

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Second Amendment supporters came in droves to Annapolis, Maryland, making sure gun bills they support aren't changed to infringe upon their right to bear arms.

What is different this time is former gun support gatherings have focused on what they reject in the bills, while this time they're looking at what they approve of.

Gun control resisters in the crowd said they won't stop the fight to maintain their constitutional rights.

Of the bills firearm supports agree with are those addressing mental health issues and getting tougher on criminals using guns in crimes.

Incredibly, in Maryland, even off-duty police officers aren't allowed to have a gun on their person in the schools. Even though there is no doubt armed people are the answer to minimizing the victims of
potential killers.

Beretta May Say Adios to Maryland - Hope So

Recognizing the gun control fanaticism of the Maryland General Assembly, Beretta, a company almost 500-years-old, is considering leaving the state of Maryland because a new gun they are about to roll out would be illegal in the state under an assault-weapons ban.

Another element to making a decision on whether to stay in the anti-gun state or not is its extremely popular 9mm pistol, which is used by numerous police department and all American soldiers, would also be banned in the state because it has a 13-bullet magazine.

As Jeffrey Reh, general counsel for Beretta, said, “Why expand in a place where the people who built the gun couldn’t buy it?”

The draconian legislation from Gov. Martin O’Malley would ban assault rifles and magazines with over 10 bullets, and any new guns that included what are identified as two more military-like features.

Reh also reminded lawmakers what happened last time they tried to pull gun regulation stunts - the company moved its warehouse operations to the state of Virginia. He wanted to let them know if they think the company is bluffing, they need to remember what happened the last time they attempted it.

As for the new gun, it's a very cool semiautomatic version of the ARX-160, which the company has already invested over $1 million in a machine to design it. It's a similar machine gun that has been made highly visible in the wildly popular video game Call of Duty. It's a civilian version of the gun, which is also used by special operations forces.

The company has already started to expand the plant to prepare for production of the gun. That move is in question now that the state is coming out against guns of this type, as well as others.

To me, Beretta shouldn't even think twice about leaving Maryland. They're anti-gun and anti-business, and there is no reason to operate in a state that opposes everything you stand for, and is willing to implement laws that would hurt the company and do nothing to improve safety.

According to the FBI, the latest figures in 2009 show that of the 9,000 plus homicides using firearms in America, less than 350 were committed using a rifle.

Draconian Maryland Gun Control Bill Moves to Senate

Key provisions of Gov. Martin O'Malley's sweeping gun-control plan face renewed battles in the Maryland Senate next week, while the House of Delegates launches hearings expected to be just as contentious as those that brought thousands of people to Annapolis this month.

Lawmakers are again bracing for crowds as each chamber presses forward with O'Malley's proposal, which would give Maryland some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. The governor is scheduled to appear at a Friday rally for his bill.

A handgun licensing provision pushed by advocates as the most effective way to curb gun deaths has been targeted by gun-rights lawmakers as the most onerous and objectionable part of O'Malley's plan.

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Univ. of Maryland Shooting Involves Mental Illness

The murder-suicide involving a University of Maryland, College Park, student who was on medication for mental illness will likely affect the debate over Gov. Martin O'Malley’s gun control bill and its safeguards against gun purchases by the mentally ill.

State lawmakers have remained quiet in the aftermath of last week’s shooting by Dayvon Green, a 23-year-old graduate student whom authorities say shot his two roommates — killing one — before turning the gun on himself.

The governor’s bill would make it harder for people with documented mental illnesses to legally purchase handguns, but it is not yet clear whether its restrictions would have stopped Green, who legally bought the 9 mm pistol he used in the killings and a semiautomatic Uzi rifle that wasn’t fired but was found at the scene.

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