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2016 Session Update - Week Nine Edition
It's time for Scholarships
Through the Delegate Scholarship Program, District 5 Students have the opportunity to earn scholarships if they will be attending an in-state Maryland college or university. The deadline for the scholarship application is April 15.
Please use the link below to apply
Protecting Women, the Vulnerable, and Your Rights on College Campuses
This week, the House debated House Bill 1002, Weapon-Free Higher Education Zones which would make it illegal to possess a firearm on the campus of any college in the State of Maryland. Currently, it is up to the individual institution to determine if they will allow firearms on their campuses.
While the intent of the bill is the protection of students on college campuses, it is too broadly drawn. It makes no exceptions for those people who the state has granted a concealed-carry permit.
The process to get a concealed-carry permit in Maryland is an arduous one. It requires a number of background checks, mental health screenings, as well as a "good and substantial reason" for carrying a firearm. Two of the most compelling criteria - which require proof and must be verified through an investigation by the State Police are:
"APPREHENDED DANGER/FEAR: an objectively established concern that the applicant's life is in danger or that he/she is being targeted by individuals wishing to do him or her harm." as well as;
"PERSONAL PROTECTION: a good and substantial reason for the wearing, carrying or transporting of a handgun for an individual who is at significant risk of danger from another individual(s) and where the individual's apprehended fear of reprisal is based on more than his/her personal anxiety and beyond that of the average citizen that he is being targeted by individuals wishing to him harm."
A small number of people actually hold conceal-carry permits in the state, and an even smaller number of them, if any, are college students. If this bill is really about safety, then those in the most dangerous situations - so dangerous that the state has granted them special permission to carry a firearm to defend themselves - should not lose the right to defend themselves. Those people intent on doing harm on college campuses are not troubled by the fact that they're in a "gun free zone". This bill sacrifices the constitutional rights of our citizens to offer a false sense of safety to others.
Members of the Republican Caucus offered a number of common sense amendments to the bill and even gained bipartisan support because some of the provisions were so egregious. However, the bill is poised to be approved.
"Cross-Over Week Approaches"
It is beginning to feel like Spring in Annapolis, with the temperatures rising and the trees beginning to bloom! With thirty one days left in the legislative session, next week is "cross-over week" in the General Assembly. All bills that are going to move forward must have passed over to the opposite chamber (House Bills passed to the Senate and vice versa) by Monday, March 21st. As the week progresses, there will be multiple floor sessions per day as well as Committee Hearings and voting sessions.
This is the time of year when bad legislation can get passed in the rush to beat the deadline, and often where good legislation gets left behind.
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