New Firearm Bill May Cause Little Change for Law Abiding Gun Owners

ANNAPOLIS - When the House Judiciary Committee met last week, just days after it finished wrestling with a contentious same-sex marriage proposal, lawmakers were greeted by another lightning rod issue: Guns.

However, unlike previous efforts and initiatives, the new angle taken by legislators will widely affect those who break the law with firearms, not those who simply choose to bear arms.

Last Tuesday was the House committee's annual "gun day," when hundreds of Second Amendment and gun control advocates clashed over bills intended to shape how Marylanders purchase, carry and use firearms. This year, a dozen gunbills were on the schedule, including a pair backed by Gov. Martin O'Malley.

But if recent history is any indicator, the vast majority of firearm proposals debated in the House committee Tuesday are poised to fail. It's the product of what advocates and lawmakers on both sides of the issue have described as the General Assembly's long-running stalemate when it comes to guns.

The last time the legislature approved a sweeping gun-control bill was in 2000. Under then-Gov. Parris Glendening, a Democrat, the state passed landmark legislation that put in place a system for ballistic fingerprinting and required built-in child safety locks for handguns.

Since then, lawmakers have been largely reluctant to loosen or tighten gun restrictions.

"We are chicken," said Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez, a Montgomery Democrat whose bill limiting the size of ammunition clips to hold no more than 10 rounds will be heard Tuesday. "We're not taking the issue as serious as it warrants."

The general approach over the last couple of years has been one of maintaining the status quo on the issue of guns, said Delegate Luiz Simmons, an influential member of the House Judiciary Committee. It's an agenda, Simmons said, that's set by the state's highest levels of leadership -- from the governor to the House speaker and Senate president.

"The approach has been we're going to do nothing unless forced by some horrific incident that exposes a real flaw in the law." said Simmons, D-Montgomery.

As a result, the chances of a major piece of gun legislation passing this session are slim, he said.

Maryland has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent GunViolence. That has allowed some lawmakers to skirt the issue, said Lisa Miller Delity, a board member of the gun-control group CeaseFire Maryland.

Under Glendening, who served from 1995 to 2003, gun bills were a "big issue and was something that was talked about and dealt with," Miller Delity said.

But under O'Malley and his Republican predecessor Robert Ehrlich, the issue fizzled, she said.

This session, O'Malley is putting his weight behind two gun bills as part of his legislative agenda.

O'Malley is looking to "close a loophole" and require that people convicted of committing a violent crime with a longgun, such as a rifle, face the same penalty that applies to those who use a handgun: mandatory five years without parole. He's also backing a bill that would increase the time convicted gun offenders spend in prison by reducing "good-time" credits.

"I think he could be louder and stronger on this issue. You see the splash on these environmental proposals that he's supporting," Gutierrez said, referencing the muscle that O'Malley this session has put behind proposals such as an offshore wind farm bill.

O'Malley, who helped push through legislation in 2009 that removed guns from the houses of domestic abusers, is slated to host a "Maryland Forward" Forum on guns and gang violence in Baltimore.

O'Malley spokesman Shaun Adamec said the impact of just having the governor's name attached to a bill can't be underestimated. It's ultimately what might help "put over the top" the proposal to reduce good-time credits for convictedgun offenders, he said.

"He's doing his part to advocate for the issue," Adamec said.

Aside from O'Malley's two bills, a pair of proposals backed by Baltimore leaders that would tighten some gun laws also will be heard. Another bill would give state police broader authority to regulate gun stores.

And a proposal that would repeal the controversial "good and substantial" clause in the state's concealed carry law -- an annual favorite of Second Amendment advocates -- was on the schedule, too.

Showing up en mass to testify against gun restrictions is the best strategy to ward off new laws, Dembowski said. The group also floods the inboxes of committee members with emails in the days leading up to the hearing.

"Our people fight very good defense," Dembowski said, pointing to efforts that have killed past proposals to implement a statewide assault weapons ban."Conversely I don't think we do as good on offense to advance pro-gunlegislation."

That's exactly why Delegate Don Dwyer, a Republican from Anne Arundel and fierce supporter of gun rights, said he isn't filing any gun bill this session. Dwyer, who almost annually files a bill to ease restrictions in the state's concealed carry law, said little will be accomplished on gun issues this session.

"My guess is it will remain the same," he said. "Neither side will advance, and we'll continue to hold."

Correction: According to CeaseFire Director John Josselyn, Casey Anderson of Silver Spring, Lisa Miller Delity of Bowie and Eric Gally of Annapolis misrepresented themselves by claiming that they represent CeaseFire Maryland.

"The organization Mr. Gally once represented as a lobbyist (CeaseFire Maryland D01339555), was forfeited by the State on 10/07/2007 for failure to file personal property returns for 2006," said Josselyn in an email. "This information is known to Mr. Gally, as well as some veteran members of the Committee. Newly appointed Committee members would have been misled had Mr. Gally’s misrepresentation not been challenged by Delegate Smigiel."

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