Maryland ––(Ammoland.com)- The Maryland 2015 legislative session has come to a close, and an eventful close it was.
In the last day of session, we saw SB736 (Ballistic Fingerprinting Repeal) pass out of the rules committee, have a first reading in the Maryland House, make it through the House Judiciary Committee with a favorable report and then have a second and third reading on the House floor, to pass and be sent to Governor Hogan for his signature.
When we started this legislative session, it appeared that we would have the normal list of bills in both the House and the Senate, with some submitted by veteran legislators and some submitted by freshmen. With 32 bills submitted in the House and 16 bills in the Senate, we had our work cut for us to look at the bills and figure the good, the bad and the ugly. In the end, we really couldn’t find any bills that we really objected to, with several we neither supported nor objected to.
First we had our 2nd annual “2A Tuesday” legislative day, and while the weather didn’t cooperate forcing 5 school districts to close and another 4 to open late, we still had a good turnout for the rally. Once the rally was over the majority of the attendees went and visited their elected officials and spoke to them on the various bills that had already been submitted by that time.
Our first “gun bill day” was in the House Judiciary Committee on March 10th 2015, with a good turnout of members from the 2A community, the hearing started at 1:00 PM and went until almost 8:00 PM. Bills heard included; HB25 (Assault weapons replacement), HB39 (Repeal of handgun identification requirements), HB306 (Firearm decriminalization act of 2015), HB464 (Carry permit reciprocity), as well as a lot of other bills. Of all of the bills in the House, the only ones that moved and were approved were HB614 (Department of State Police – Handgun Roster Board – Definition of Handgun) which removed short barreled rifles and short barreled shotguns from the definition of a handgun, and HB170 (Natural Resources – Game Birds – Baiting) which brings the state of Maryland in line with the federal laws with regards to strict liability for hunters with regards to baiting.
Our second “gun bill day” was in the Senate Judicial Proceeding Committee on March 12th 2015, and again with a great turnout from the 2A community the hearings went until roughly 6:30 in the evening. Bills heard included; SB100 (Public Safety – Permit to Carry, Wear, or Transport a Handgun – Qualifications) making self defense a definition under good and substantial reasoning, SB454 (Reciprocity), HB736 (Handgun Identification Requirements – Repeal) which was heard on March 17th 2015, as well as several other bills.
A lot of good testimony was provided during the hearings and a lot of questions were asked by the committees this year. Time will tell if this is a change for the better or just a first year, getting to understand the process for the freshmen, thing.
So, the short version is two good bills passed and one neutral bill (HB614), and we will take that as a start.
So, what is up next now that the session is over? MSI will be working with the Governor and the Superintendent of Maryland State Police to work on administrative remedies for some of the issues that make it hard for law abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights. As we make progress on these issues, we will provide updates. We are also working on a lawsuit for the HQL. For up to date information on this, please go to www.marylandshallissue.com/fightthehql. There are links to donate towards the cause on the page.
-Dan
#MSI2A #MD2A
Maryland Shall Issue, Inc.1332 Cape Saint Claire Road #342
Annapolis, Maryland 21409
240-446-6782
Mission Statement: Maryland Shall Issue is an all volunteer, non-partisan effort dedicated to the preservation and advancement of all gunowners’ rights in Maryland, with a primary goal of CCW reform to allow all law-abiding citizens the right to carry a concealed weapon; and to the education of the community to the awareness that ‘shall issue’ laws have, in all cases, resulted in decreased rates of violent crime. https://marylandshallissue.com/
