Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Maryland lawmakers will likely vote on a gun bill this week.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, April 3
By LUCAS HIGH, Capital News Service An hour before what could be the biggest day in the months-long gun control saga, the State House and Lawyers Mall were oddly quiet. The hundreds of Second Amendment activists and gun control advocates who have organized raucous rallies to mark each legislative milestone in the gun control bill’s march to Gov. Martin O’Malley’s desk were mostly absent from the capital as the House prepared for it final debate on HB 294 at 4 p.m. Tuesday. O’Malley’s bill would ban the purchase of assault rifles, reduce maximum ammunition magazine size from 20 rounds to 10 and require handgun purchasers to submit digital fingerprints prior to licensing. Do you think this proposed gun bill will have a significant impact on …
Thursday, March 14, 2013
A survey by Goucher College finds support on issues from banning assault-style weapons and ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds to fingerprinting and prohibitions on owning weapons for persons who are involuntarily committed.
From bans on assault-style weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines to fingerprinting anyone purchasing a gun, a new poll finds that a majority of Marylanders want stricter state gun laws. Eighty-two percent of those surveyed in a poll conducted by the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College believe those purchasing a gun should be fingerprinted. The poll also found: Last month the Maryland Senate approved sweeping changes to gun laws that requires a license for all handgun purchases, bans of sales of assault-style weapons and ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds, requires fingerprinting for new gun purchases, and prohibits anyone involuntarily committed involuntarily for mental health reasons or who …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
By LUCAS HIGH and ALLEN ETZLER, Capital News Service
The Senate approved a series of amendments Wednesday to Gov. Martin O’Malley’s gun control legislation that would ease some of the proposed restrictions on gun ownership while maintaining the major aspects of the bill. The Senate heard amendments to the bill until 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. A final vote on the bill in the Senate is expected at 8 a.m. Thursday. Among the changes to O’Malley’s proposal, the amended bill narrows the definition of what constitutes an assault weapon, doubles the lifespan of a valid handgun license and reduces both the number of hours of training and the licensing fee required to purchase a handgun. The bill also clarifies which people who seek mental health services are disqualified from owning a gun. Despite the …
Saturday, February 23, 2013
By ALLEN ETZLER, Capital News Service
- NEWS
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Saturday, February 23
The Maryland Senate is set to vote on Gov. Martin O’Malley’s package of new gun legislation in the coming week. If approved, the law would ban assault rifles, decrease the maximum capacity of ammunition magazines from 20 to 10, update handgun licensing requirements to include digital fingerprinting, improve school security and restrict the ability of people who have been involuntarily committed to psychiatric facilities from purchasing guns. But gun restrictions are not new in Maryland, dating back to at least 1886, when the legislature passed a bill stating the only way someone could carry a firearm, concealed or not, was if the person was a public official who needed a firearm as part of their official equipment. Five decades later, both…
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Those who wish to testify are encouraged to preregister.
The Carroll County State Senate Delegation will hold a town hall meeting on Senate Bill 281 – Firearms Safety Act of 2013 (SB281) on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. The hearing will take place at the Best Western Hotel, 451 Best Western Drive in Westminster. On Feb. 6, the Maryland State Senate held a bill hearing in Annapolis on SB 281. Several thousand people attended the hearing and many were unable to testify due to time and space constraints. The Senate Delegation would like to provide this town hall meeting as an opportunity for Carroll County citizens to provide their thoughts to the local Senate Delegation on the legislation. The Carroll County House Delegation has been invited to participate. Senate Bill 281 proposes new …
Friday, February 15, 2013
By LUCAS HIGH, Capital News Service
People who live in areas with higher rates of gun ownership are more likely to commit suicide, whether by gun or by some other means, say researchers who study the effects of firearms on society. The correlation between gun ownership and suicide rates takes on added significance given the increase in firearms sales in the wake of tragedies like the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. This week, a University of Maryland graduate student who suffered from mental illness, shot two of his roommates with a legally purchased 9 mm handgun, killing one before turning the gun on himself. “Firearms suicides tend to be very compulsive acts,” said Professor Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and …
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
By Rashee Raj Kumar, Capital News Service
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, January 22
Fears of new gun control regulations proposed by President Barack Obama and Gov. Martin O’Malley have intensified sales at Maryland gun shops. While the boost in sales has bolstered gun dealer’s profits, it has also led to a shortage in the supply of guns in the state, especially assault rifles, gun shop owners said. "Everybody is panicking. Every day has been absolutely crazy for the last three weeks," Henry Calvert, president of Calvert Firearms, Inc. in North East, a town in Cecil County, said of his customers. “It’s a bear market. Everyone is purchasing everything that comes in." Obama proposed a set of gun control regulations on Wednesday, which included a universal background check for all gun sales and a ban on military-style …
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Charges against the Crofton man were announced during a press conference Wednesday by the state's attorney and police chief of Prince George's County.
UPDATE (2:30 p.m.)—Neil Prescott of Crofton was charged with telephone misuse related to an averted threat incident last week in which he allegedly made threatening calls to his workplace. The announcement was made Wednesday afternoon by Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks and Prince George’s County Police Chief Mark Magaw at the county courthouse in Upper Marlboro. Alsobrooks said that Section 3-804 was the only Maryland law under which Prescott could be charged because the state does not have a law against making threats by phone. The charge of telephone misuse, which is a misdemeanor in the state, carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $500 fine. Prescott won't be arrested until his release …
Friday, July 27, 2012
The suspect from Crofton called himself "a joker" and threatened to "load [his] guns and blow everyone up" at his Pitney Bowes office, police said.
Less than a week after a gunman opened fire on a crowded theater in Aurora, CO, police in Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties say they thwarted a "terror attack" that threatened to bring similar fear and violence closer to home. Officials from both counties announced Friday that they had a man in custody in connection with a mass shooting plot. Media reports named the suspect as Neil Prescott, 28, of Crofton, but police declined to confirm his identity. Earlier reports identified the suspect's last name as "Trescott;" however it has since been corrected. Prince George's County Spokeswoman Julie Parker said that after speaking to the state's attorney's office, the suspect would not be charged Friday. The suspect remained in the care …
Monday, November 21, 2011
The Sykesville Police Department held their first annual gun turn-in Saturday.
More than 30 local residents visited the Sykesville Police Department on Saturday, dropping off their firearms and 35 pounds of ammunition during department's the first annual gun turn-in. Most of the firearms were in poor condition would be very dangerous to try to fire, according to Cpl. Dave Lewis of the Sykesville Police Department. The items will be destroyed and the ammunition will be taken to the State Fire Marshal's Office for disposal. "Even some of the ammo was dangerous," said Lewis. "A lot of it is corroded and two shotgun shells had primer strikes and are unstable. One box of shotgun shells had a Woolworth’s price sticker on it." The site was manned but no questions were asked of individuals dropping items off. "This was an …
Steve
10:19 am on Thursday, April 4, 2013
The Fudds won't be disarmed. They just had a dent put into their Hoplophilia fetishdom. more ›