Observations and Reflections on Legislative Activities
By Delegate Mike McDermott
Update on House Joint Hearing on HB-294 (Gun Bill)
By Delegate Mike McDermott
(Annapolis) The House Joint Hearing on HB-294, the Governor’s Gun Bill, continues on into the night and is passing 8-hours of testimony at the time of this writing. Well over a thousand signed up to testify against this bill and only a very few testified in favor of the bill. In fact, except for the “professional” panels that came in support of the governor (about 20 people), everyone else has been opposed.
We have heard from retirees and 10-year olds, people in
suits and people in working uniforms, people of great means and people of lesser means, people from Worcester and people from Prince George…all in all, we have heard from Maryland and they do not want this bill passed.
There have been a few good exchanges with some of those who
have come in to testify. The governor skated today and did not respond to questions as he had surrounded himself with a large panel providing insulation and the right questions were not asked.
The Speaker and Chairmen running the joint committee simply did not allow many questions and he quickly escaped out of the chamber and away from questions.As of 8:00pm, there were still over 600 hanging around to
testify against the bill. Sheriff Lewis joined several other Sheriff’s from around the state and provided passionate testimony before the committee in defense of the 2nd Amendment. In fact, we heard from many in law enforcement who stood with the people’s right to defend themselves as they see fit.
We heard from Beretta Arms who strongly indicated that they
would look seriously at moving from Southern Maryland to another state. This echoes what we have heard from other manufacturers of firearms in Maryland. Beretta alone would mean over $400 million to our state coffers.
It was nice to see Worcester State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby
in attendance as well. It seems the only support the bill had was from inside the beltway. We will be going well into the early morning hours and may well need to come back later in the day on Saturday to insure that every Marylander who wishes to be heard on this issue is heard.
6 comments:
Thank you Delegate McDermott for standing up for our 2nd amendment rights. Now can you do something for Pocomoke? Its a certainty that officers face danger each day in our uncertain world. When it is hard enough for victims of rape or domestic violence to talk what is the reason for making it more scarey to talk not wanting to come forward. This may make it more sad as victims won’t want to talk. Sad when the good people of this town are portrayed as criminals first.
heck why not tell about this before this big news story and why get a nonprofit group to provide these? Would you have to explain this to taxpayers? Might be difficult to do so they opted for other funding and then announce it on television? Very wierd things going on in a town which boast in the news of no crime and crime is so low.
where is the story on here?
Due to this pending legislation it ain't pretty out here. Ammo hoarding has begun in earnest and is in very short supply. Our govenor's email to junior hunters on the eve of Youth day in Md was an absolute joke. Phishing email addresses from the DNR to spread his propaganda. Wishing junior huntes good luck while seeking to make it illegal for them to possess ammo. He, sir, is a joke of a govenor.
After working so hard to secure those jobs at Bennelli and Beretts it'd be ashame if they moved their operations to a locality where the general public could legally use their product. It'd be ironic if they cut off supply of the sidearm that most law enforcement/soldiers folks rely on...Jobs and public faith in our govenor on the run from MD.
Mike has represented us well in his time in Annapolis. I trust he'll continue to stand up for us on this one.
CL MARSHALL
I totally agree CL. The Marylanders have really spoken up on this issue. Delegate McDermott has certainly given this his best shot- as he does with all issue.
Totally agreed.
But the idea of officers recording the public? Victims of domestic violence and sexual violence are already fearful and anxious. Should not our police be giving more of a positive message and inviting people to report crimes?
Maybe if you dont want people to report crimes, ya' know to keep them numbers low, you treat all people like criminals.
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