Gun Laws

As Ron Jones lodged his shotgun against his shoulder Friday night, took aim and fired, a heaviness hung over the Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club's weekly trapshoot in Montgomery County as thick as the smoke that belched from his firearm. Across the state, sportsmen like Jones have watched with trepidation as talk of tighter gun laws echoes from Washington to Harrisburg, Pa., since 20 children and six adults were killed in a Connecticut school by a man with a semiautomatic rifle. Now, amid rising calls for state and federal bans on assault weapons and high-volume ammo clips, the electoral might of Pennsylvania gun owners might be tested anew.

Hundreds of gun-control opponents showed up in the state capital Wednesday as Gov. Martin O'Malley testified in front of a senate judicial committee in support a bill that would bring stricter gun laws to the state. Among those crowding the Lawyer's Mall, a public space outside the Maryland State House, were some Washington County residents who said they had come to voice their opposition to the bill and make sure that their Second Amendment rights are not infringed upon. As crowds milled around the State House, President Obama was also in Annapolis on Wednesday talking strategies on gun control and immigration with U.S. Senate Democrats at a nearby hotel.

By DAVE McMILLION / Staff Writer, Charles Town photo: KEVIN G. GILBERT / staff photographer SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Maryland and Virginia restrict the number of guns that can be bought in a single purchase, while West Virginia does not. And that's causing problems for West Virginia police. The main concern is how drug traffickers have taken advantage of the situation, a top West Virginia State Police official said at a violent crime symposium here on Tuesday.

There’s no answer to Callaham’s question To the editor: Art Callaham asks ( Jan. 23 and Feb. 4 ), “Where do we draw the line between public safety and individual (gun) rights?” The question assumes that there is a correlation between gun laws and public safety. Is there? Search for information on gun laws vis-à-vis gun violence and you quickly learn that the parties on both sides of the gun debate claim polar opposite things, complete with statistics, graphs and charts.

Even as President Obama unveiled a series of gun control measures Wednesday, members of the largely Republican Washington County delegation in the state capital said they were skeptical of the president's actions. Some said that a ban on assault weapons was not going to work, while one legislator said that criminals and psychopaths were not going to follow the proposed laws. “A lot of these liberal legislators have a anti-gun mentality anyways, they take tragedies like what happened in Newtown … and unfortunately they exploit it for political purposes,” said Del. Michael Hough.

laurae@herald-mail.com WASHINGTON COUNTY - Beginning Wednesday, all new handguns sold in Maryland must be equipped with built-in safety locks. Gun dealers worry that the new law will reduce choices and increase costs for gun buyers, but it may be months before its true effect is known. All guns manufactured before the end of the year, including those still on dealer shelves, are exempt from the new requirement, said Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley. Maryland's Handgun Roster Board has approved six types of built-in gun locks, Shipley said.

Like me, Del. Neil Parrott seems to believe that any publicity is good publicity. So OK, I'll bite. Building on his tremendous success in the November election, Petitioner Parrott is having a go at the state's newly enacted law banning the death penalty. Forget his oh-fer on gay marriage, immigration, et al. His MDPetitions group announced last week it would attempt to collect the necessary signatures to put the death penalty repeal up to a statewide vote. Love the way they're using social media to further the cause.

Jefferson County Democrat Stephen Skinner was one of only four members of the West Virginia House of Delegates - all Democrats - who voted against a bill calling for the repeal of local gun control laws. The bill passed the House 94-4 with two members absent. Democrats siding with Skinner in opposition were three delegates who represent the city of Charleston, W.Va. Gun control laws in Martinsburg, W.Va., which ban guns on city-owned property, are similar to those of three other West Virginia cities the bill would affect.

“Just sitting here reading my Monday paper, and I see where Elizabeth Paul writes this article about this wonderful Obama and how wonderful he is and what he's done, and I could only read about half of the column, and it just saddens me that what he has done to our country and what he's continuing to do, and Lord help us all, and hopefully that something soon will happen and so we can start getting jobs.” - Hagerstown “So the Republicans aren't...

What do we really believe? To the editor: Watching the events of the last couple of months unfold, I have to ask the question: What do we really believe? We all watched as the Newtown shootings unfolded. Days after, we saw the funerals and the tears of family and friends and a nation. We swore to never let it happen again. On that very same day, 3,500 children were killed. No funerals, no tears, no nation in mourning. Their innocent lives taken “legally” in the name of a right to choose.  Listening to the speeches of President Obama and the first lady, and many others, I hear the subject of fatherhood come up a lot. How they love to tell us about the importance of a father in the family.

“Here are the facts: Germany was completely disarmed in 1919 as punishment for World War I. No manufacture, sales, possession of guns or ammunition were permitted. By 1928, Germany had rearmed, with registration required. By 1938, the only changes in Hitler's gun laws were that 18-year-olds could possess arms and that a three-year hunting permit was all that was required to register guns. Only the Jews were then completely disarmed, including their knives and bats. The NRA quotes Hitler with statements that have never been authenticated.

Hundreds of gun-control opponents showed up in the state capital Wednesday as Gov. Martin O'Malley testified in front of a senate judicial committee in support a bill that would bring stricter gun laws to the state. Among those crowding the Lawyer's Mall, a public space outside the Maryland State House, were some Washington County residents who said they had come to voice their opposition to the bill and make sure that their Second Amendment rights are not infringed upon. As crowds milled around the State House, President Obama was also in Annapolis on Wednesday talking strategies on gun control and immigration with U.S. Senate Democrats at a nearby hotel.

Even as President Obama unveiled a series of gun control measures Wednesday, members of the largely Republican Washington County delegation in the state capital said they were skeptical of the president's actions. Some said that a ban on assault weapons was not going to work, while one legislator said that criminals and psychopaths were not going to follow the proposed laws. “A lot of these liberal legislators have a anti-gun mentality anyways, they take tragedies like what happened in Newtown … and unfortunately they exploit it for political purposes,” said Del. Michael Hough.