2019 Session - Legislative Report #1
January 8, 2018
Greetings!

Please encourage your friends and colleagues to join the 2A Maryland Legislative Email list in order to receive the latest updates and information as soon as they become available. I am asking that every reader to recruit three new subscribers to the 2A Maryland legislative email system.

The 2019 Session of the Maryland General Assembly convenes at Noon tomorrow, Wednesday, January 9th.

The 2A Maryland Legislative Webpages are undergoing re-construction to reflect the new Maryland General Assembly and committee assignments. This is a very involved process so please keep checking back for updates.

Once the Session begins, things will heat up quickly and experience has shown that we will see a flurry of activity as various gun bills are filed. Remember, we try to avoid clogging up you INBOX with emails on every new item, so keep check the webpages for updates!

A link you may want to view immediately is the 2018 Update of the Maryland Gun Laws which incorporates the new laws passed last year.

Once again, it is necessary to caution gun owners about open discussions concerning the details of pending legislation on internet forums. While we all want to dissect the nuances of legislation and point out flaws, such discussions are best left to private meetings with select members of the committees.

Last session we saw what happens when a bill was totally revised to reflect the comments and arguing points posted on the internet.

Rule number 1:
Do not teach the anti-gun legislators how to write more onerous bills!

The old WW2 wartime advice still applies: "Loose lips, sink ships!"

John H. Josselyn
2A Maryland

2019 Session Forecast - UPDATE
We know of at least five bills which are reportedly in the hands of the bill drafters in Annapolis. The details are still unknown; but essentially, they will deal with:

  • Ban of 3D printed firearms
  • Ban on 80% receivers or "Ghost Guns" and the media likes to refer to them
  • Increase in the spectrum of persons who can file a "Red Flag" petition
  • Reduction in the statute of limitations for certain firearm offenses
  • Credit card payment processing for handgun permit fees

New Addition:
  • Bill to revise the legal definition of what constitutes a firearm "transfer"

We could spend a lot of time speculating and pontificating on the pros and cons of these bills. Let's wait until we really have some hard information and use what time we have to prepare for the 2019 Session by encouraging friends and colleagues to join this email list so they will be in the loop for accurate updates and information as it becomes available.
2019 Maryland General Assembly
We are still waiting for official confirmation of the committee assignments, the entries in red are our best guess.

According to the Maryland Legislative Information Service (MLIS), the room assignments, email addresses etc., for the 2019 Session will not be available until after the swearing in ceremony on the opening of the Session at Noon on January 9, 2019.

Please note that this is normal at the beginning of a legislative session which follows an election. The 2A Maryland documents and databases will be updated as soon as possible after the data becomes available.

Bump Stocks Banned - ATF Final Ruling
The ATF has issued the anticipated, and not unexpected final ruling which will outlaw the possession, sale and transfer of so-called "bump stocks."

From the ATF website:

"The rule will go into effect March 26, 2019; 90 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.

The final rule clarifies that the definition of “machinegun” in the Gun Control Act (GCA) and National Firearms Act (NFA) includes bump-stock-type devices, i.e., devices that allow a semiautomatic firearm to shoot more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger by harnessing the recoil energy of the semiautomatic firearm to which it is affixed so that the trigger resets and continues firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger by the shooter."




This ruling does not appear to address the other devices outlawed by Maryland's recent legislation passed during the 2018 Session.
New York Times Reporters Chide Credit Card Companies for Their Part in Mass Shootings
Guns don't kill people, people with credit cards kill people.....

The Daily Caller is reporting that several New York Times reporters want to hold major credit card companies responsible for mass shootings. It seems that the reporters believe that the credit card companies should be screening purchases to be sure that mass murderers are not buying guns with credit cards.

It is unclear how these reporters would react if they knew that anyone can get a cash advance on their credit card and spend the cash on anything they want; including firearms.


CNN Investigation Discovers That Felons Lie
Cable News Network (CNN), never known for objective reporting, has suddenly discovered what we always knew: Criminals do not obey the law and that includes lying on ATF Form 4473. The situation is not helped by the fact that many, if not most, states have been remiss in provided information on criminal convictions to NICS. That coupled with a lack of enforcement and prosecution of criminals who lie on Form 4473 means that background checks are of limited value as a means to keep firearms out of the hands of prohibited persons.

See the article below on the California study on background checks.

California Study: Background Checks on Gun Purchasers Failed to Reduce Crime
World News Daily reports that a study by the University of California-Davis Violence Prevention Research Program and the Baltimore based and very anti-gun Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health indicates that California's mandatory background checks had no impact on gun deaths.

Gun control supporters like the folks at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health were quick to double down on the value of background checks and blamed faulty and incomplete criminal record databases for the failure of background checks to reduce gun deaths.

Criminals don't acquire firearms through legitimate sources. They don't expose themselves to background checks, so the accuracy and/or completeness of the databases is of little consequence. While it may be a shock to those living in the world of academia, this is no surprise to those of us who live in the real world.





Baltimore Gun Buy-Back Follies - Part II
Mayor Bought Rusty Old Shotgun
When no one else wanted to purchase a rusty old Smith & Wesson shotgun I was given to dispose of, Mayor Pugh stepped up and paid with a brand new $100 bill.
My sincere thanks to the city taxpayers for their contribution to my granddaughters' college funds!
Pro-Gun & Anti-Gun Organization Spending
During 2016, the last year that I represented the Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore (AGC) (a 501(c)(4) corporation), my annual budget was $10,200. Spending did not exceed the budget, and no compensation was paid to anyone. AGC is no longer active in the legislative arena.

By comparison, in 2013 Marylanders Against Gun Violence (MPGV), a 504(c)(4), reported income in the amount of $134,535, and $121,125 in expenses. Twelve thousand dollars was paid in compensation to MPGV's President.

In the same year MPGV's Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) reported income in the amount of $68,183, and $65,906 in expenses. Two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars was paid in compensation to MPGV Education Fund's President.

The "GiffordsPAC" sends out daily requests for funding. They only ask for $3 but even $3 times thousands of donors mounts up to an enormous fund to political action. Last year was the first time in history that the anti-gun organizations raised and spent more than the pro-2nd Amendment organizations. With funding like this, is it any wonder that our opponents are being so aggressive with their agenda?

The gun control groups are well funded, cohesive and organized. We need to be better. We cannot match their funding, but we can match and exceed their efforts and commitment.
2A Maryland Legislative Information Web Pages
W EB PAGE INFORMATION & REPORTS
PLEASE NOTE THAT BETWEEN DECEMBER 10th AND THE OPENING OF 2019 SESSION OF THE MARYLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY, THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNDERGOING REVISIONS AND UPDATES AS NEEDED TO REFLECT THE NEW GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERSHIP, COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS AND PROPOSED LEGISLATION.
John H. Josselyn
2A Maryland
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The information contained on this website is the property of 2A Maryland and may not be copied or reproduced in full or in part without proper and full attribution to John H. Josselyn, Mt. Washington Rod & Gun Club and 2A Maryland.