Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (Photo: Facebook)
Starting on Oct. 1st — next week! — Maryland will have three new gun-control laws on its books, including a ban on bump stocks, a red flag confiscation scheme and an order that requires domestic abusers to surrender any firearms in their possession.
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan signed the bills into law last April.
“We’re signing common sense, bipartisan measures that will keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and those with criminal backgrounds,” Hogan said during the signing ceremony at the State House.
The red flag law, also known as an extreme risk protection order, allows police, medical professionals, family members, and dating partners to seek an order from a judge that will allow law enforcement to confiscate firearms from a person they suspect to be a danger to themselves or others.
As GunsAmerica has reported in the past, there are many concerns with red flag laws, such as whether it violates the due process rights of the accused, the apparent redundancy of the order as existing law already provides tools for law enforcement to seize firearms from truly dangerous individuals, the legal costs of restoring one’s 2A rights after they’ve been falsely labeled an “extreme risk,” among others.
SEE ALSO: Exclusive: ‘Sending People Home To Die,’ The Truth About Red Flag Laws
The law criminalizing the possession of bump stocks is also flawed. As Mark Pennak, president of the pro-gun group Maryland Shall Issue told the Associated Press, the ban “seizes lawfully owned, lawfully purchased, lawfully possessed personal property,” without providing any compensation to the owner. To say nothing of the fact that making lawful arms unlawful is infringement.
The final law that requires domestic abusers to surrender any firearms they obtained prior to their conviction seems to make sense. Except for the fact that it’s based on the honor system. The state expects a violent felon to provide proof that he no longer has any guns in possession. Which raises the question, is it reasonable to suspect a known lawbreaker to suddenly start complying with a new law?
Maybe the convict will turn over any gun he purchased from an FFL. Federal law already requires him to do so as it is unlawful for a domestic abuser, once convicted, to possess any firearm. But will he turn over his street guns, the ones he bought illegally from his drug buddies? There’s simply no way for the government to know.
This month the NRA announced that it was downgrading Gov. Hogan from an “A-“ rating, which he was awarded four years ago, to a “C” rating. The nation’s gun lobby did not specify on why Hogan’s grade slipped. But it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.
Hogan’s opponent, Democrat Ben Jealous, is actually worse on gun rights, though. The NRA gave him an “F” grade, something that Ben wears as a “badge of honor.”
“The mass shootings, gun-related incidents of domestic violence, and everyday gun violence in neighborhoods across Maryland have cut the lives of too many of our young people short and devastated families for too long,” Jealous told The Baltimore Sun. “But the NRA continues to stand in the way of commonsense gun safety measures that could make a difference. We need a governor with the courage to stand up to the NRA, not because it’s popular, but because it’s necessary to keep us safe.”
This November, it appears, Maryland gun owners will have a choice between two devils. Better to vote for the devil you know than the devil you don’t.
Md. Constitution limits the Governor to two terms of four years. Larry Hogan was questioned at the 2014 primary debate about his anti gun comments. He won the Republican primary in Maryland by promising Republicans that he would not sign any new gun control laws as Governor; referring to Demanocratic Governor O’malley’s 2013 Gun Control Laws as making Maryland one of the toughest on guns. Yet Governor Hogan is so loved by Demonocratics that he feels safe violating his campaign promise to his Republican base. Voter registration in Md is 2 Demonocratics to every one Republican. So that’s why we occasionally get a Republican Governor like Ehrlich & Hogan because they’re liberal Republicans. Democratics in Md are willing to vote for a Republican Governor because they are actually conservative Democratics. The leadership of the Md Demonocratics are far left of they’re party members. While the leadership of the Republicans are left of they’re party members.
Maryland is tied with Pennsylvania at 11th place in the USA for the most firearms owned per capita.
Western Md. Southern Md. & the Eastern shore love their guns. The problem in Maryland is the 5 Counties along the I-95 corridor where all the Demonocratics, Welfare, Drugs, Poverty & Crime are. These are those suckling off of the US gov’t tit.
All those that own a little quarter acre of land respect other People’s property rights.
more rinos than gop
Sad that one of the original 13 colonies that revolted against a tyrant, are now governed by them
Also grew up in Montgomery county during the 70’s, and today that county is much less wealthy than it was just 30 years ago!
Drive through Langley Park and you’ll think you’re in Tijuana with all the signage. The amount of public assistance that tax payers are putting out has increased 3 fold since 1974. Illegal immigration hurts any nation and the US is no exception.
Excellent comment by RJL
Maryland was illegally garrisoned by the Federal Gub’mint during the Civil War and the counties surrounding DC have been nothing but an unofficial territorial expansion of DC ever since. Maryland’s politics have largely mirrored the FedGov’s, and this latest power grab with regards to gun rights is no different.
And, of course, Maryland’s overwhelmingly liberal major cities can be counted upon to fail to deal with the ‘root causes’ of their gun-related violence while attempting to impose their cultural biases on the still rural areas. who see damn little of anything in return for their taxes save Gub’mint-derived efforts to relieve them of not only more tax money but their rights, as well.
Even though it was my born State, I am glad I left it years ago as it could never become anything more than what it eventually did, a morass of liberalism. To paraphrase an old Mex saying, “Poor Maryland; too far from God, too close to DC”. I feel sorry for the decent folks still stuck there.
The opponents of gun rights come in four fundamental categories:
Utopian Idealists – Dreamers willing to ignore human nature (anger, hostility, temper, greed, lust, hunger, poverty, want, megalomania, social pathologies, etc.) in the vain hope for a world where no one ever needs to defend themselves or others; Result: misguided efforts to disarm the public since no one should ever be capable of exerting lethal force for any reason. Fairly rare.
Routine Bigots – Ignorant gun haters who, generally, have never actually seen a real gun much less fired one, and hate what they don’t know; strong corollaries with race haters; Result: Vigorous anti-rights profile if left alone, however they often resolve their blind hatred when education removes the ignorance — frequent anecdotes of such folks “converting” after their first time at a range. Quite common.
Hoplophobes — Unfortunate souls afflicted with a phobic terror of firearms, deserving of pity, and in need of medical attention; Result: Though they should never be involved in setting policy on self-defense, national security, or Second Amendment rights, they often insinuate themselves into such positions, their need for treatment goes unattended, and they cause grievous social harm. Easily mistaken for plain bigots. Too common.
Power Mongers – Like some at the U.N or many anti-gun-rights politicians, they know full well that an armed public interferes with their plans, and they insidiously use lies about the gun issue, and “disarmament (of you but not them) as a road to peace” as a power base and source of support; Result: truly evil, tyrants’ who ultimately suppress human rights, contribute to global genocides, live an elite lifestyle, care not for their fellow citizens. Rare but extremely dangerous.
Example of the Sickness:
“My own view on gun control is simple: I hate guns and I cannot imagine why anybody would want to own one. If I had my way, guns for sport would be registered, and all other guns would be banned.”
–Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Harvard School of Public Health
The right of decent private citizens to personally possess, transport, and responsibly use arms without government interference is the ultimate freedom and the main pillar supporting all other liberties. Few cultures have allowed their general population access to weapons, the tools of power, to the same degree as the United States. Instead, most societies have restricted the keeping and bearing of arms to a select few power brokers and their agents, often resulting in oppression on a grand scale.
Despite a massive amount of historical evidence to the contrary, there is a substantial body of Americans, many occupying positions of influence, who contend that the abrogation of the Second Amendment is the quickest path to domestic tranquility. Since this is as absurd as advocating blood-letting as a cure for anemia, it would seem advisable to question the motives and mentalities of the gun control advocates themselves.
In my observation, weapon prohibitionists can be broken down into seven major categories. Even though their motives may vary they all pose a mortal threat to liberty.
ELITISTS
Many of those in favor of oppressive firearms legislation are best classed as elitists. Elitists frequently identify with a peer group based on wealth, power, rank, social status, occupation, education, ethnic group, etc. and perceive themselves and their peers as inherently superior to and more responsible than the “common people”, thus more deserving of certain rights. Since elitists practically consider those outside their class or caste as members of another species, that most anti-elitist list of laws, the Bill of Rights is viewed by them as anathema. Naturally, the Second Amendment is their first target as it serves as the supporting structure for other nine amendments.
AUTHORITARIANS
Another type of individual who favors the restriction of private gun ownership is the authoritarian. Authoritarian personalities are characterized by their belief in unquestioning obedience to an authority figure or group and a disdain for individual freedom of action, expression, and judgement. Those with authoritarian personalities function well in symbiosis with elitists occupying positions of power. Because authoritarians repress their desires for autonomy they harbor a deep resentment toward free and independent thinkers. Of course, authoritarians do not want firearms in the hands of the general population as this constitutes a major obstacle to fulfilling their pathological and obsessive desire to control people.
CRIMINALS
It goes without saying that career criminals would like to see the public disarmed for obvious reasons. A well-armed population makes crimes such as assault, robbery, and burglary hazardous for the perpetrator and this is bad for “business.” Also, even non-violent or “white collar” criminals live in constant fear of retribution from the public that they financially bleed and would therefore prefer that the public be disarmed. Evidence supporting this hypothesis can be gathered by studying the Second Amendment voting records of those legislators who have been convicted of willful misconduct.
THE FEARFUL
Cowards are easily or excessively frightened by things and situations that are recognized as dangerous, difficult, or painful. It therefore stands to reason that the mere thought of guns and the circumstances in which they are employed causes them abnormal amounts of stress. Rather than admit their weakness to themselves or others, some fearful types jump on the anti-gun bandwagon and purport moral superiority to those “barbaric” enough to employ lethal force against armed assailants by claiming various humanitarian and pragmatic motives for allowing evil to remain unchecked. Many of these individuals harbor an envy induced resentment toward anyone with the means, skill, and will to successfully stand up to criminal aggression.
The desire to assert oneself exists in nearly everyone, wimps included, so cowards seek out tame enemies against whom they can ply their pitiful brand of machismo. Instead of the sociopaths who commit acts of wanton aggression with guns, guns themselves and responsible gun owners are the main targets of their attacks. After all, real criminals are dangerous, so cowards prefer doing battle with inanimate objects that do not have a will of their own and decent law-abiding people whose high level of integrity and self-discipline prevent them from physically lashing out against mere verbal assailants, however obnoxious they may be.
IDEOLOGICAL CHAMELEONS
Ideological chameleons follow the simple social strategy of avoiding controversy and confrontation by espousing the beliefs of the people in their immediate vicinity or advocating the philosophy of those who scream the loudest in a debate. Quite a few supposedly pro Second Amendment public officials have shown themselves to be ideological chameleons when they supported restrictions on the private possession of military style semiautomatic rifles following recent atrocities in which such firearms were employed. Like their reptilian namesake, people who merely blend in with the ambient philosophical foliage seem to have little insight into the moral and social ramifications of their actions. Political and/or economic gain along with avoidance of confrontation are their only goals.
SECURITY MONOPOLISTS
Security monopolists are those members and representatives of public and private security providing concerns who want the means of self-protection out of private hands so that they can command high fees for protecting the citizenry against the rising tide of crime. These profiteers stand to lose a great deal of capital if citizens can efficiently defend themselves. To the security monopolist, each criminal who enters and exits the revolving door of justice is a renewable source of revenue providing jobs for police, social workers, victim counsellors, judges, prison employees, security guards, burglar alarm installers, locksmiths, and others employed by the security monopolies or their satellite organizations. No wonder it is so common for an honest citizen to be more ruthlessly hounded by the authorities when he shoots a criminal in self-defense than a criminal who shoots honest citizens.
THE DYSFUNCTIONALLY UNWORLDLY
Just as a limb will weaken and atrophy if not used, so will aspects of the mind fail to develop if nothing in one’s environment exists to challenge them. People who have led excessively sheltered lives tend to have a difficult time understanding certain cause and effect relationships and an even harder time appreciating just how cruel the world can be. These dysfunction ally unworldly types are truly perplexed at the very notion of firearms ownership regarding defense. To them, tyranny and crime are things that happen in other places far removed from their “civilized” universe. Also, they do not understand the value of private property and why some people would fight for theirs since they never had to work hard to acquire what they possess. While those suffering from dysfunctional unworldliness are most often people who have been born into considerable wealth, this condition is also common in members of the clergy, academicians, practioners of the arts, and others who have spent much of their lives cloistered in a safe and pampering environment. While many of these people may be quite talented and intelligent in some ways, their extreme naivety makes them easy prey for the tyrants who use them for the financial support and favorable advertisement of their regimes. The anti-gun movement is well represented and financed by the dysfunction ally unworldly.
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance, and it behooves all vigilant lovers of liberty to know and be able to recognize the various types of arms prohibitionists and understand their differing but equally dangerous motives. Acquiring knowledge of one’s foes is the first step toward defeating them. We must never forget that a threat to private firearms ownership is a threat to all freedoms.
The inalienable and fundamental right to keep and bear arms which is enumerated by (but predates) the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is not about hunting, gun collecting, or target shooting. Its purpose is to ensure that every responsible American personally possesses the means to defend the Republic from all forms of tyranny, within and without. It is what permits the other nine Amendments in the Bill of Rights to be more than mere hollow phrases on a piece of paper. Its free exercise is the antithesis of serfdom and the only meaningful form of holocaust insurance known to man.
We must never insult and degrade the spirits of our Founding Fathers by permitting the Second Amendment, the pillar of freedom, to be destroyed by the cold flame of legislative ink.
Lived in MD, grew up in Chevy Chase MD (very wealthy, very liberal area). I was so glad to leave that leftist sewer behind. Maryland loves their illegal aliens, some cities let them vote in elections, the schools have been destroyed. Unfortunately, the Maryland garbage is moving to Virginia and trying to make this state the same leftist sewer they left behind. They’re the East Coast version of Kalifornia….moving other areas and then destroying them (e.g. Oregon, Washington, Colorado are in the crapper comrade).
Maryland is lost, turn off the lights comrade.
My federal job was moved from VA to MD. Even though the cost of living at the new location was much cheaper, I found another federal job in VA to not go to MD…………I used to think that some additional gun control was a positive but some States have made it just plain stupid and most laws I see the feds trying to pass make no sense. I have co-workers in MD who just ignore their laws and hope they will never be caught.
The best memory I have about Maryland was the sign on interstate 95 south that said “Leaving Maryland” thirty one years ago . I never looked back and I haven’t been back since.
Not much really.