So there I was last week, drivin’ into DC when I heard Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (D) on WTOP.com’s “Ask the Governor Program.” And I call in and wait in the queue only to be the last caller!
I ask [@ time hack 34:99]:
“Hi Governor. My question’s on gun carry permits. The Heller decision said that the right to bear arms is to carry them and I’m wondering if Maryland can ever move from the current non-discretionary issuance of gun carry permits? [NOTE: I meant to say “discretionary” not “non-discretionary” but Governor O’Malley appeared to understand what I meant].
And Governor O’Malley quickly responded:
No, I don’t think we will. Maryland has made a lot of strides in reducing violent crime . . . we’ve moved from I think the 4th most violent in the country to the 8th . . . we have some of the most you know proactive gun laws in the country and we still have the level of violence . . . so for the caller I’m with you at least on that common ground.”
Incredibly Governor O’Malley then went on to say that he hopes Maryland will eliminate the death penalty “for those who commit the unspeakable crime of taking a loved one from us through violence.”
Maryland Govenor Martin O'Malley
So Governor O’Malley, admitting that Maryland’s rating by the Brady Campaign as the 5th most gun controllin’ state in the union is not correlated with less violent crime, thinks the continued violation of the right to bear arms is the right thing to do.
O’Malley’s complete disregard for the “right to carry” question is itself an unspeakable crime. Most states don’t even require a permit to openly carry a handgun and issue concealed handgun permits to anyone who can pass a background check (click on right to carry map below for larger image).
But Maryland requires permit to carry a handgun either openly or concealed. Further, such permits are issued by the Maryland state police on a discretionary basis.
Fortunately, many Maryland legislators disagree with Governor O'Malley and have introduced a bill to make Maryland a “shall issue” state when it comes to gun carry permits. HB 470 with bi-partisan sponsorship would repeal the requirement that the Secretary of State Police find that a person has a good and substantial reason to wear, carry, or transport a handgun before issuing a handgun permit.
Check out other Gun Rights Examiners:
- Austin: Another Brady hallucination: More guns, more ‘gun violence’ (Part 1)
- Charlotte: Guns and the Constitution: Rep. Itse responds to readers on secession bill
- Cleveland: God and Guns: a Christian viewpoint on self-defense
- DC: DC City Council enables residents’ easy access to mail order handgun carry permits!
- Denver: Active compliance......or not
- Los Angeles: Gun Control: Guns in churches
- Milwaukee: Time to change our attitude about guns
- Minneapolis: Dispelling the myth of 'The Wild West'
- National: When animals attack
- St. Louis: Mexico's bloody drug war is not the fault of 'lax U.S. gun laws'
Comments
This is why O'malley will not be re elected. Complete disregard for common sense. This is literally the nicest thing i could muster up to say about the guy. What i really feel is much more profane.
I suggest you take a look at the 11-year-old in Pennsylvania who shot his almost-stepmother...on both counts, gun control and death penalties. I'd rather have more gun control and less death penalty after that one...or does that fairly nuanced conclusion escape you?
This irks me to no end--I voted for O'Malley because of other issues (predominantly stem cell research, abortion, and science). Erlich certainly wasn't doing anything to help us on these issues OR self-defense. I am angry that he would deny me the right to occasionally carry a firearm to protect myself in my car when I have to travel late at night or in isolated areas. I grew up when guns were no big deal, and the rising hysteria about them is based on ignorance and fear spread by a few people. Wake up, Governor O'Malley. States that pass CCW find crime actually drops. You're drinking the Kool-aid, I'm afraid.
With all the economic difficulties facing Maryland today, what on earth is O'Malley doing trying to impose his own narrow views on the death penalty??!! Drop it Governor. Let the death penalty stay in tact!
Yeatsmom - detail for us, please, just how any "gun control" - much less even MORE "gun control" would have made any difference at all to the 11 year old or the crime he may have committed (no jury verdict in yet, far as I know).
The problem is human nature and human choice of action, not the tool. He could just as easily have killed the woman with at least a dozen other tools.
No law on the face of the earth can prevent a crime. Law can only deal with it after the fact. I don't know if any criminals consider the law before they act, but there is plenty of evidence to show that they take the possibility of being hurt or killed very seriously when choosing potential victims. They want helpless, frightened prey, not armed resistance.
Freedom or Slavery
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The choice is ours
While the world is arming itself our elected officials seem to want us to be defenseless against those who would like to see the united States become a third world nation! If history has taught us anything it is that freedom always comes with a heavy price tag, too many people have died for the freedom we enjoy in America, we can’t let it slip through our fingers now when the world is at a critical juncture we must fight to keep our constitutional rights in tact the way our forefathers meant them to be. The men who crafted and created the constitution knew first hand how easy it is to loose your rights as a human being if you are not willing to fight for the right to be free! ALL THAT IS NEEDED FOR EVIL TO PREVAIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING!!!
I’M SURE NONE OF US HAVE FORGOTTEN 9 11, THOSE PEOPLE ARE STILL OUT THERE AND WILL ALWAYS BE. Guns are not the problem, people are.
If I want to kill you I can do so with a shovel, or a 10 cent bic pen or any one of a thousand other things. Bad people will always have guns and if we allow the government to take away our right to carry and protect ourselves and our loved ones we will open the door to a horror none of us want to experience. The wolves and the buzzards of the world will swoop down upon us without mercy not to mention the criminal element that already lives in America just waiting for us to become defenseless.
The only way to remain free is to WALK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG STICK!
This I know for a fact, THOSE WHO FORGET HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT!!! THE HITLERS OF THE WORLD WILL ALWAYS BE WITH US, WE CAN NEVER LET OUR GUARD DOWN NOT EVEN FOR A MINUTE. This is a time for all of us who cherish freedom to unite for the protection of our rights, our freedom, and our very way of life.
Criminals DO NOT follow, nor care about the law! Wake up people...More laws, more crime. Think about it...
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