The moral do-gooders in Maryland cheered the death of liberty this week.
In a 78 to 61 vote, Maryland’s House of Delegates approved what could soon be one of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation.
Essentially, the bill mandates new licensing requirements for those buying handguns, including fingerprint registrations. The bill also bans assault weapons and limits magazines to ten bullets.
Somehow, through this legislation and a handful of magic beans, there will be fewer gun-related deaths in (ironically) the Free State.
But the truth is the exact opposite is what’s likely to occur…
Liberty and Justice for All [Who Can Afford It]
While many in the House who voted for this unconstitutional gun bill live in gated communities and high-income neighborhoods, there are other, not-so fortunate folks who live on the meaner streets of Baltimore City, which is consistently ranked as one of the most violent cities in the nation. And it should come as no surprise that nearly all of this violent crime tends to happen in low-income communities where jobs are scarce and opportunity is limited to those who don’t get pregnant or shot by the time they’re 16.
It’s a harsh reality, one that is rarely discussed when wealthy Marylanders dictate policy from their cushy leather seats in Annapolis.
Instead, in an irrational reaction to a national crisis, these folks rush out to blanket the entire state with gun laws that actually do more to help criminals than to help law-abiding citizens…
So while some choose to simply look at these stricter regulations on gun purchases as nothing more than a sign of the times, those who actually need to protect themselves would now be at a further disadvantage. Because don’t think for a second that stricter regulations that include fingerprinting won’t come at a price through licensing and registration fees.
That, my friends, could make it more difficult for those on limited incomes in poorer neighborhoods to protect themselves. And quite frankly, these are the folks that are at much more risk of victimization.
It’s almost as if this bill just says, “Go ahead, kill the poor.”
Falling on Deaf Ears
Interestingly, while adults that should know better were rallying the troops to chip away at the Second Amendment this week, it took the words of a 15-year-old Maryland girl to remind lawmakers that their efforts would result in failure.
Here’s a segment from her speech to the legislature:
Chicago, Illinois, has had some of the strictest gun control laws in America enacted for the past few years and it is currently more than twice as likely for you to be killed in Chicago as it is in the Afghani war.
For the past eleven years and four months in the Afghani war, two thousand one hundred sixty six people have been killed. Now in only eight years, in Chicago, four thousand two hundred and sixty five people have been killed and three thousand three hundred and seventy one of them were from being shot.
Is that really something we want to model our state laws after?
Now, even of those three thousand three hundred and seventy-one, only thirty-seven were killed with a rifle, which is barely one percent.
Ninety-eight percent were killed with handgun, so creating a gun control legislation that targets assault rifles has specifically proven to only weed out less than one percent of the problem, if you’re lucky.
I’d also like to point out that none of the guns used in the Chicago shootings were registered or licensed to the people who use them, thus further proving that simply restricting guns will not stop criminals from using them nor will restricting guns stop criminals from harming others in general.
On December fourteenth of 2012, the same day as the Sandy Hook shooting in central China a man stabbed twenty two children and one adult. Guns are not needed for mass murder and robbing American citizens of our rights to own them won’t solve anything.
Sadly, it seems these words fell on deaf ears.
Maryland Hates Jobs
As Maryland lawmakers continue to sell the illusion that limiting gun rights will help decrease murders and violence, those Marylanders who sell guns are now at risk of losing their jobs.
No, I’m not talking about the corner gun shop, where law-abiding citizens stock up on ammo, buy hunting gear, and sharpen their skills. I’m talking about a gun manufacturing company that employs more than 400 Marylanders, pays about $30 million a year in taxes, and has invested nearly $75 million in its Maryland-based business.
That’s right. Beretta — the oldest active firearms manufacturer in the world — is now likely to pack its bags and leave Maryland to move to a state where those who build their guns can actually buy them, too.
Because under this new legislation, some of Beretta’s guns would be banned.
We’ve recently learned that other states, including Texas and West Virginia, are now courting Beretta with tax incentives and the promise of a more inviting business environment.
As State Delegate Anthony O’Donnell told reporters: “Losing Beretta would be a big disappointment. Maryland has a reputation for having a horrible business climate, and this would be one more nail in the coffin.”
What a mess.
Live honorably, live free…
Jeff Siegel for Freedom Watch
