There was a huge turnout to protest Gov. O'Malley's gun control bill yesterday. Maryland already has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country.
Even the WaPo said it was a big demonstration:
Gun rights advocates marshaled one of the biggest crowds to descend on
Annapolis for a bill hearing in years Wednesday, packing the halls of
the Maryland State House complex to oppose Gov. Martin O’Malley’s plan
to institute some of the nation’s strictest gun-control laws.
Women were prominent:
Outside the State House, opponents of O’Malley’s plan made it clear
that he would be in for a battle. Many adorned their clothing with “Guns
Save Lives” stickers and lined up to sign petitions against the bill.
Placards bounced to the rhythm of speeches. One woman held up a
cardboard sign that said, “When the people fear their government, there
is tyranny.”
Kelly Cook, 23, a college student from Arnold, held
up a sign that said: “Why do you want to fingerprint me? I am not a
criminal.”
“That’s what I want to ask Governor O’Malley,” she said.
And:
More than four hours into the hearing, a Connecticut-based lobbyist
for the gun industry drew the most heated reaction from the
Democratic-controlled panel.
“The restrictions in this bill are
arbitrary. Nothing in it will prevent another Newtown or Columbine,”
said Jake McGuigan of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, based in
Newtown.
“You’re coming from Newtown, Connecticut, to tell us an
assault-weapons ban would not save lives?” asked Sen. Brian E. Frosh
(D-Montgomery).
Like others from the gun industry, McGuigan did
not back down. He stressed that Connecticut has an assault-weapons ban
and that the guns used in the shooting that killed 20 students there
were legally owned by the killer’s mother.
With regard to
Maryland, McGuigan cited homicide statistics from 2011 that showed just
two of nearly 400 killings statewide were committed with rifles that
could be banned under O’Malley’s legislation. Outside the hearing, the
crowd in an overflow room applauded at the response.
Jeffrey Reh, general counsel for firearm manufacturer Beretta, which
has a plant in Accokeek, warned lawmakers that O’Malley’s bill, which
outlaws 45 types of weapons and their knockoffs, could have a severe
impact on the company’s business. He also said that because gun
manufacturers in Maryland are required to register as firearm dealers,
it’s unclear whether the company would still be allowed to export guns
for sale in other states.
“We’re confronted with a state government that wants to ban the
products we make,” Reh said. “Not surprisingly, we are concerned.”
And more women (and girls, too):
Hope Ingraham of Gaithersburg said she doesn’t own a gun but brought
her 9-year-old daughter, Zahira, to the spectacle because she thinks
that constitutional rights should not be infringed upon.
“I used
to be really anti-gun until [Hurricane] Katrina and I watched all of
that Superdome stuff,” she said, “and that’s when I realized — the
government lacks the ability to protect us when we need it most.”
After
six hours waiting to testify, Athena Andrzejewski of Ellicott City was
told that she would not be called before the hearing would be adjourned
at 9 p.m.
“I expected a big crowd but not this big,” Andrzejewski
said. “I’m glad it’s this big. It means we’re not just going to take
whatever comes. It means we are going to fight.”
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