Gun Violence Prevention in Maryland

On January 14, 2013 Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley announced at a Johns Hopkins Gun Violence Summit with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg a new comprehensive gun violence prevention legislative package for Maryland.


Anyone wishing to purchase a handgun first be required to obtain a license to purchase the weapon from the state police.

Proponants of this legislation suggest this is the best way to reduce gun violence because it will substantially reduce "straw purchases," which occurr when people who are prohibited from owning weapons get someone without a criminal record to purchase the gun for them. Straw purchases are the most common way that guns end up in the hands of people who use them to kill other people.

The complete list of goals to prevent gun violence in Maryland are:

• Requiring a license to purchase a hand gun
• Banning assult weapons designed to kill and inflict maximum carnage
• Limiting magazine capacity to 10 rounds per magazine
• Providing the State Police authority to regulate gun dealers for illegal activity

These are common sense measures that will not infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens, or sportsmen that use hunting rifles or shotguns. These are responsible measures to take military-style weapons off of our streets and reign in the sale of hand guns by "straw purchasers" just before they are used in a crime.

Join Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence and tell lawmakers in Annapolis to support the Firearms Safety Act of 2013 (SB 281/HB 294), which includes common-sense measures to reduce gun violence like licensing handgun purchasers and banning assault weapons and high capacity gun magazines.  We know that states with responsible gun laws have lower gun violence death rates, so tell your legislator that you support meaningful reforms to Maryland’s laws to reduce gun violence.    

Write to your State Senators and Delegates now to strongly urge them to support Governor Martin O'Malley's life-saving gun violence prevention legislation, SB 281 and HB 294, particularly requiring the licensing of handgun purchasers and banning assault weapons and high capacity gun magazines, along with Senator Brian Frosh's legislation to better regulate gun dealers, SB 266.  

You can do this easily by going to our website, www.marylanderstopreventgunviolence.org.  Please do your best to attend one or more of the community forums on gun violence being sponsored over the next couple of weeks by Lt. Governor Anthony Brown and Attorney General Doug Gansler.  Flyers for these events are attached and on our website. -- I will be representing Marylanders To Prevent Gun Violence on the panel at these events. 

Finally, please attend if you can the hearing on the Senate gun violence prevention bills on Wednesday, February 6 at 1pm at the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in Annapolis.

According to The Baltimore Sun, the NRA is already holding meetings with lawmakers to discuss their strategy to defeat this legislation, using fear and misinformation to intimidate members of the Maryland General Assembly. 

Please help make Maryland safer

We Need to Talk About Gun Violence in Our Neighborhood

This essay will set some people off, but I don’t care. My brother died of a hand gun incident in 1987 when he was 17 years old, and my family has not been the same ever since. So, I want to talk about it. This conversation is way over due. I have decided that I will speak out publically every new time an outrage like this happens.


The gun episode on the first day of school (Sept 2012) at Perry Hall High School was a shock to most of us. It was a traumatic event to those witnessing or injured as a result. And it is still reverberating through the community. I learned that there was a meeting at the school a few days later to for parents to ask questions. This is the responsible thing for the school to do. I learned about it after the fact. Now granted, I don’t have children attending this school, but I do live in this neighborhood, and I want to know what’s going on here in Perry hall.


This phase of the healing is about comforting the victims, parents and students close to this tragedy. I respect that and I can wait my turn. But I want to know what’s going on. I don’t want to simply be appeased.


When I went to school in the 1960’s and 1970’s no one brought guns to school. We need to understand what has changed and we need to talk about what we need to change about how we are responding.


It is time to start community conversations about how we as a community can deal with this situation. There will be those who will want to point out why this is proof that we should all carry guns. And there will be those who think we should confiscate all guns because they cause too much injury, death and havoc.


I am not advocating either position at this point. Even though my brother died in an act of violence I realize the need to keep a calm and patient voice. Truthfully I am afraid of people carrying guns on the street and I am equally afraid of a world in which the government has all the guns.


We need to find a better approach to this problem. Who has some new ideas?


We need to talk about solution and not make accusations based on polarized positions.