Thousands Protest O'Malley's Gun Control

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A huge crowd of gun rights supporters rallied in Annapolis Wednesday to protest a comprehensive gun control bill backed by Governor O'Malley.

Among the signs displayed by protesters on Lawyer's Mall outside the State House: "Armed people are safe and free."

The bill would ban the sale of military-style assault weapons and restrict the high capacity of magazines to ten rounds.

The measure also calls for those purchasing handguns to obtain a license and complete a firearm safety course.

But Shannon Alford, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, told the crowd "We know that law abiding citizens are the only affected by this bill because criminals don't follow laws."

Tim Rourke, who attended the rally, said "I'm not part of the NRA, I'm not part of any group, I'm a stay at home dad and I'm here cause they're not going to take my rights away."

A short time later, Governor O'Malley testified on behalf of his bill before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

"This is not about ideology, this is about public safety, this is about doing reasonable things that work to save lives, to prevent hopefully the sort of slaughter that our country sadly is a witness to far too often," said the Governor.

The Governor was referring to the recent school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut where 20 young students and six staffers were killed.

"None of us having empathy in our heart and not ask ourselves is there not something that we could and we should be doing," said the Governor.

Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger also testified in favor of licensing new owners of handguns.

"Just like you wouldn't want your 15-year old to begin driving a car without proper licensing and training, we want to make sure that every gun owner also has proper training and licensing.

Senate President Mike Miller says, "It'll be a close vote on the licensing aspect but you got to remember, it only applies to future purchases, it doesn't apply to existing guns and it doesn't apply to rifles or shotguns."

The public hearing began at 1pm Wednesday but continued well into the evening, with more than 800 witnesses signed up to testify.

Source:Thousands Protest Governor O'Malley's Gun Control Bill