Defeat of Maryland semi-auto ban shows power of grassroots

      Oleg Volk photo (click photo to enlarge)

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A couple weeks ago, Maryland state Senator Michael Lenett (D) introduced a bill to ban so called "assault weapons"--common, semi-automatic, detachable magazine fed rifles, in other words.  Maryland's gun laws are already horribly restrictive, but SB 516 would have made them dramatically worse.

Gratifyingly, though, Maryland residents are apparently mad as (heck), and aren't going to take it anymore, and they mustered enough grassroots pressure to have the bill withdrawn.

We know from first hand knowledge that the incredible pressure, to the tune of several hundred emails and calls a day, brought to bear upon the sponsor of this bill was responsible for the sponsor pulling it.

Old fashioned grassroots activism.  That's what gun rights advocates have, and what the forcible citizen disarmament lobby can't figure out how to buy.

What works in Maryland (ranked by the Brady Campaign as the state with the 5th most draconian gun laws) can work anywhere else.  In MIssouri, for example, while there does not seem to be much in the pipeline for gun rights advocates to have to mobilize against (like an "assault  weapon" ban),  there are several bills that deserve (and need) gun owners's support.  Just a few:

HB 1230--the Missouri Firearms Freedom Act.  As discussed here, the Missouri Firearms Freedom Act would demand that the federal government obey the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, and respect Missouri's state sovereignty regarding firearms (and ammunition and accessories) made in Missouri, for use in Missouri.

HB 1669--concealed carry reform.  While I make little secret of my disdain for the concept of licensing the bearing of arms, as long as we allow ourselves to be stuck with licensing, anything that makes the process less  onerous is an improvement, and extending the time for which a license is valid (from 3 years to 5), and lowering the age of eligibility from 23 to 21 are both good reforms.

HB 2150--firearms law preemption.  Bars local governments from putting into place laws more restrictive than the state's.  All Missouri gun owners should get behind this.

HB 1506--another Missouri Firearms Freedom Act.  Similar, if not identical, to HB 1230.

Call your state legislators; email them; drop by their offices if you can at a time they're there, and urge them to support these bills, if they want you to support them.

Across the river in Illinois is another story, where most gun rights advocacy activity is likely to be defensive in nature (such as defeating HB 180--handgun dealer licensing).  That, though, is a discussion for another day.

The lesson is clear.  Our public servants need from time to time to be reminded that they are, indeed, servants.  It is our civic duty, as good masters, to provide the reminder.