Spanish War monument, Balitmore, MD (courtesy kilduffs.com)

“Maryland’s House of Delegates approved a major gun control measure Wednesday to ban assault weapons, require people who buy handguns to provide their fingerprints and limit gun magazines to 10 bullets,” foxnews.com reports. “The House voted 78-61 for the [Firearm Safety Act of 2013], one of Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley’s priorities for the legislative session scheduled to end at midnight Monday. All 78 votes in support of the bill came from Democrats, while 18 Democrats joined all 43 Republicans in the chamber to vote against it.” The gun ban, mag cap limit and fingerprint requirements place Maryland firmly in the slave state camp once the bill clears the Senate (33 Democrats vs. 14 Republicans) and lands on O’Malley’s desk for signature. Berretta, who famously declared Berettas don’t bluff, will bail on the Free State [sic]. And others.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

84 COMMENTS

  1. The ball is rolling. The emotional impetus is reaching full climax. Like a disease, this anti-gun drivel is spreading across the NorthEast.

    My State, CT, has officially lost its moniker of “Constitution State”. Now it seems MD wants to jump onto this bandwagon. This arrogance and impudence will not go unchallenged. Ultimately, when civil disturbances erupt, what will these liberals really do? Cry? Whine? Demand new legislation? Tedious. Pathetic, the whole lot of ’em.

    In CT we have Dems and Repubs who have joined together in a twisted intellectual fellatio session and are even now patting themselves on their backs.

    Enough. Enough. This is not the America we deserve. They have no idea what they have done or want to do. But we do.

    • After the fevor for gun ban ends, which is will when all the states either shoot down these bills or pass them, we need to turn the tide. I live in Pennsylvania where any attempt to limit guns let alone ban them is shot down by the republican majorities and republican governor has a few very pro-gun bills in the assembly including constitutional carry. We need to respond bill for bill, for every state that bans assault weapons we need states that start approving constitutional carry and repeals stupid gun laws. We also need to stop the mentality of leaving states that ban guns, we need to bring the fight to them, stand and fight, not retreat, or this gun grabbing mentality will really spread

    • In CT we have Dems and Repubs who have joined together in a twisted intellectual fellatio session and are even now patting themselves on their backs.

      ^ F*ck’n Priceless

    • “This is not the America we deserve.”

      These sycophantic politicians didn’t elect themselves.
      So arguably, it’s exactly the America the ignorant and
      uninvolved deserve.

    • I believe a large part of the problem – and one of the reasons the gun grabbers have been using and continue to pursue gun control at the state levels – is that state passage of gun control laws is easier to accomplish due to the effects of the United States Supreme Court decisions Reynolds v. Sims and Baker v. Carr in the 1960s.

      All state legislative bodies, both upper and lower, must be elected on the one person – one vote formula instead of one body based on population, and one geographical based. (In contrast, the constitutionally mandated formula for the U.S. legislature is that the Senate is geographically based, and the House is population based.)

      Consequently, most state legislative bodies heavily favor highly populated (and highly liberal) cities in their makeup. The more sparsely populated outlying areas are often at the mercy of the metropolitan majorities.

      Truly this is a case where the serfs are lorded over by the Kingdom.

  2. Your reference to Maryland as becoming a slave state is exactly accurate. Unfortunately we cannot depend on the Supreme Court to defend the Bill of Rights. As soon as Scalia or Thomas retires Obozo will be able to appoint another traitor to the court similar to Sotomayor or the other broad (name escapes me at the moment). This will assure that the “emergency” cases the regime will bring to the court will be acted upon immediately and will be the death knell of our Constitution.

    • I think both of them are smart enough to retire after Obama is out of office. I hope the republican party is also smart enough to get a damn candidate that isn’t Obama-lite and can actually win, especially if Hillary runs in 2016.

      • I’m not counting on Obama leaving office at the end of this term. I know that he professes to be a Christian but I suspect he is a closet Muslim. Their route to power has always been “one man, one vote, one time”. I have no confidence in our system anymore. Even though the Constitution was amended to prevent Presidents from serving more than two terms I believe that he will simply ignore that the way he ignores everything else.

        • Except that he will not make on the ballot in enough states to win a majority of the electoral college. For any other option see my Sherrif thread post on why the only coup will be the Military treating him like Salvadore Allende.

        • Mike, if they pissed on the Constitution to THAT degree, I would grab my guns and start shooting.
          Anybody who even supported such madness would have to die and I would kill them.

  3. It appears Texas will have to restore the constitution at the barrel of the gun. Someday. The good thing about a second civil war is that the other side has no soldiers. Or will to fight.

    • But they will have lots of drones and sociopathic, overweight gamerboys willing to use them on their fellow Americans

  4. The main problem with CT is that’s it’s full of ex-pat New Yorkers and refugees from Massachusetts, and all of them are Democrats.

    • Agreed. My ex is a native nutmeger, and I can tell you from experience that that statist train of thought runs deep. When discussing the second amendment and its purpose, she would always assert that the people have no legal right to overthrow our government, even if it had transformed into an absolute tyranny.

      One of several reasons why I kicked her artsy @ss to the curb. There’s five years I’ll never get back.

  5. Seems like this is going to be a good year for new jobs in pro gun states. Colt, Beretta, Magpul and many others will be moving, bringing with them jobs and tax dollars to their new pro gun homes.

      • Beretta has already said they will move. If Colt “Wont” move then I hope the NRA sticks it in their ### and calls for them to be boycotted. As long as colt is in Conn. with the current laws in place I will not be buying a colt product.

      • Beretta (and some smaller MD companies like Adcor and LWRC) have talked very seriously about moving. it’s likely Beretta doesn’t want to … but we shall see.

      • They will move if their customers require that they do. With the AR drought already coming to an end, customers will soon be able to be fussy about brands. Colt, Mossberg and others can expect some serious backlash from firearms enthusiasts. It might take a while, but they will move or die.

        Maybe they will try to hold out until November 2014 in hopes of a change in government and in law, but it’s a pretty slim hope.

  6. Unlike actual slavery we can live with a nation divided by its gun laws. The new slave states are for the most part bankrupt states as well so as the police are cut back to pay for public employee wages, benefits and pensions crime will spiral out of control and the rest of country that remains respectful of the Second Amendment will get to laugh at the plight of terrorized liberals remianing in states like Maryland and Connecticut.

    • The problem is then the drooling leftists who voted in these failed governments bail the sinking ship, move to red states, and vote in the same tyrannical politicians. So the cycle continues.

      • The drooling leftists will be spread themselve too thin to flip states. They will concentrate in nice places like Colorado. No cool person wants to live in Nebraska or Indiana. In meantime it is quite possilble that states like Maryland switch colors as the state goes under.

  7. I’m just astonished at how stupid people are. Fvck you democrats, I’m never voting for one of you again and I always did before.

    • Please refrain from the symbol substitutes for the word you just used, The one that has the v in place of the u. I understand the emotion but it only makes us look like the knuckle dragging neanderthals that the leftists make us out to be. We need to respond to this on a higher moral plane. We cannot ever give them any ammunition to use against us. Let them be the ones who curse and swear. Trust me, they do it all the time. We need not stoop to their levels.

    • After everything else they’ve done it took THIS to get you to say you’ll never vote Democrat again?!?
      Guess it only matters to some people when it starts effecting them.

  8. This is incredible. All hyperbole and chest-thumping aside this must have been what it was like in the years leading up to the Civil War.

    Jobs moving, states one after the other jumping on the legislative bandwagon, figurative battle-lines being drawn across the country.

    The anti states will just become anti-er and the pro states will just become pro-er.

    Too bad it isn’t an all encompassing pro-liberty though. Still plenty of authoritarian hang-ups in those “pro” states. Maybe in the processes of fighting for this one freedom it’ll hit the lot of prohibitionists and bible-legislators that everyones freedom might actually be worth fighting for.

  9. I always felt a little creeped out in Maryland with their nanny state. I was in this place where they called unnecessary speed bumps something like “child safety bumps” and had signs for them. I’ve only been there for short periods of time.

  10. MD resident here, slave state is accurate. I am unfortunately tied to my job for the time being. I did my best to rally coworkers but seems we had no voice. I am chomping at the bit for elections, and I hope we can get something done.

    • There is still a chance. The bill that passed the House is different enough from the one that passed the Senate that the Senate has to consider it again. On the first trip through the Senate the Republicans tried to filibuster (one Senator even joked about reading 50 Shades of Gray to the Senate), but the cloture vote failed by only a couple of votes. However, the final vote through the Senate had some votes flip to the point where the cloture vote should have failed. 2A supporters in MD are heavily targeting anyone that voted against the bill but voted for cloture, as well as folks in districts that were close elections. There is still a chance, look up Maryland Shall Issue for more details.

    • Because rallies have done SO much good so far. Tyrants always are swayed by the meaningless voices of the constituents they loathe, right?

  12. Are any Maryland subjects going to use their Second Amendment rights how they were intended against the tyrants that occupy their government? Or will they go quietly with a whimper into slavery, accept their chains, and aid in the enslavement of America through their inaction like the subjects of CO, NY, and CT have done?

    I’m betting the latter.

    I don’t understand. Why are you all so pissed and outraged over the infringement of your 2A rights when you don’t even use them how they were intended?

    • I often imagine these “stand and fight” masses one day shouting “molon labe” while clinging to their single shot Cricket .22’s being the only arms they have left to bare.

    • So, I guess that you think that we’ve exhausted the soap, ballot and jury boxes and you’re ready to go all tactical and reach for the cartridge box? Cool!! Go get ’em Tiger. Let us know how that works out for you.

      Agent provocateur?

      • Therein lies the folly of the system. By the time you’ve exhausted the soap, ballot, and jury boxes, a dozen more bills and a hundred new tyrannical politicians will be put into place. Like Shire insinuated, by the time those comprehensively respectful Americans – and believe me, the tyrants absolutely thrive on the politeness, decency, and lawfulness of the average gun owner – believe it actually is time to stand your ground, you’ll do so with .22 bolts.

        If you think the founding fathers wouldn’t be shooting or at least tar and feathering by now, you’re fooling yourself.

        Besides, I simply asked a few questions. Not sure how that makes me an agent provocateur.

        • Silver, I don’t think that you are really ready for the American Revolution V 3.0 are you? Our system was intentionally designed to be slow and unwieldy. We’ve made significant progress since 1994 and we’ll continue to do so. Yeah, it’s going to suck for awhile but at this point in time we don’t need a Fort Sumter. Keep alert and your powder dry.

        • I agree. I want to know what restriction, limitation or ban they put in place will cause the shooting to start.

          Brick by brick they are building the wall. We haven’t fought back yet and the wall is just getting bigger and bigger.

    • Are you a Maryland resident? Have you been closely following the fight? Are you aware of what plans and provisions are being made to fight this? If not, then please shut the hell up. Those of us on the ground here are fighting this and we don’t need “advice” or criticism from folks that aren’t here helping the fight.

      • -Are you a Maryland resident?-

        No, I’m smart enough to live in a free state.

        -Are you aware of what plans and provisions are being made to fight this?-

        Yes, and like all the other worthless screaming, rallying, and appeals to corrupt courts, it’ll do nothing.

        -Those of us on the ground here are fighting this and we don’t need “advice”-

        If you guys “on the ground” manage to overturn this bill, I’ll gladly eat my words and admit I was wrong. I want nothing so badly as to be wrong about what I think of what this nation has become. But until that happens, you live in a slave state, and the people allowed it to get that way.

        • The bad thing about these laws is that the challenges will take years, they are not assured to be ruled favorably for the 2A and good people will be severely punished and made examples of in that time. They will then lose their 2A rights permanently even if the bill is overturned. Additionally their lives will be ruined as felons but will have not harmed a single soul, but choose not to comply with the unconstitutional laws. Real criminals will be lightly punished but they will not follow the laws anyway and they could care less.

        • right, every Maryland resident who lives here and fights the good fight for gun rights is an idiot simply because we live in Maryland.

          remind me of your smug posts when something you’re adamantly opposed to happens in your state so that you can update us on your gunfight with the authorities.

    • @ Silver
      I don’t own any guns but i want to in the near future, but with the current climate i don’t know how successful I’ll be in this endeavor but well see. i do have friends that do own them however.

      Now I’m going to assume that by you saying “you don’t even use them how they were intended?” you mean 3 gun competitions or sport, etc..As far as I’m concerned these just make the training more fun, and enjoyable.If I’m wrong please explain what you meant by the last part of your statement.now on to the reason why i responded:

      “Why are you all so pissed and outraged over the infringement of your 2A rights when you don’t even use them how they were intended?”

      1)They’re pissed because their infringing on a right that says shall not be infringed upon.(not saying you don’t support)
      2)How do you you know they aren’t using them for what they are intended for? You think they let their weapons sit in the house forever doing nothing? No they take them out to ranges to train in its use and become proficient with the weapon. So if the need arises that they do need to use them the way the 2A states as it say against a tyrannical government . They can do so effectively against the armed forces that don’t join the side of the people. If you haven’t noticed in this climate a second civil war will probably happen if this keeps up it is inevitable.

      just my 2 cents

  13. Getting into some technicalities in MD, it was a bit hard to tell what was going on there, but my impression was that the version they started voting on yesterday may have had some interesting changes from the one passed by the other chamber back in February. One could buy an AW provided one initiated the transaction prior to Oct 1st. One wouldn’t have to register one’s newly banned AW. Finally, they banned a bunch of AW’s by name, including AR-15, but they stripped out many of the “military-style” features from a generic definition of an assault weapon, effectively allowing new future models. Is that’s what’s headed to the conference committee or did some of it get rolled back during this vote already?

    And what about the existing bigger-than-10 magazines with the new limit of 10? Do they have to be modified or disposed of, or can they be kept?

    • Hi Dave,

      I’d like to answer your questions since they are good ones, but the legislature is still in session and I’d rather not answer while there’s still a chance they can change things. All laws have unintended consequences, loopholes, etc. so if people are creative enough I’m sure they can find a way around things somehow.

      You are correct that the law doesn’t go into effect until Oct 1st (if it gets to the Gov and he signs it), so up until then these AWs, known to Marylanders right now as “Regulated Rifles”, are perfectly legal to buy and own. There won’t be any confiscation from this bill, that would piss off too many people and would be a “taking” of private property.

      • “There won’t be any confiscation from this bill,”

        It’ll be in the next one.

        There’s always a next one.

        • I wish them good luck with that on the Eastern Shore, Fredneck, Carroll and the panhandle.

          I would not want to be the confiscators in those areas. They’d better bring a tank.

  14. I thought I read something a while back that stated the Beretta folks in Italy were none to happy with the way things were playing out and expressed interest in moving?

    Anyways, will be interesting to see what LWRCI does if this is signed by the gov.

  15. I moved to Virginia from Maryland a few months ago. Glad I did it — the state has lost what little was left of its mind. O’Malley is trying to set himself up to run for president and the entire MD establishment is behind him; irrespective of what is good for the state as long as it helps O’Malley in the presidential primaries.

    If Berretta moves out of Maryland, I will buy a Berretta.

    • I’ll be following you soon. Montgomery County just gets worse and worse every year. They keep coming up with new ways to raise revenues and taxes.

    • I’ll be joining you in VA soon. Montgomery County just gets worse and worse every year. I swear I think they hold contests to see who can come up with the next “plausible” way to raise revenue and taxes.

  16. alright pal, you started off strong but lost me when you said that you think Obama will try to retain power when his term is over. it makes you sound like a conspiracy dumbass and makes our side look bad, and distracts from the real, non-conspiratorial issues that are actually affecting us RIGHT NOW.

    • Maybe you should dig deeper in to who really controls things and has the power at the top before you assume that telepromptor reader paperasshole obama is really in charge. The man is an idiot and runs nothing. But people like you assume that anyone who has mapped the real power structure is a “conspiracy theorist”.

      Anything not on the mainstream corporate controlled media is a conspiracy theory to you. Obama has already broken the constitutional rule of citizenship. What makes you think election term rules cant be broken.

      Hitler was elected with 35 percent of the vote and became dictator for life.

  17. I just spent a considerable length of time applying the amendments to the latest version of the bill. As far as I can tell, the bill bans the following:

    Semi-auto rifle with detachable magazine and two of the following
    1) folding stock
    2) grenade or flare launcher
    3) flash suppressor

    Semi-auto pistol with detachable magazine is good to go. No evil feature list. (Note: pistols on the expressly banned list, like a Tec-9, are still considered assault weapons).

    Semi-auto shotgun with a folding stock or any shotgun with a revolving cylinder is banned.

    The bill also lists specific rifles (and their “copies”) which will be banned. It looks to be the federal list circa 1994. Scar is not listed. ACR is not listed. There is also a lot of ambiguity in this section. Considering that criminal laws are interpreted narrowly, I think there is a good argument that piston ARs are not prohibited, maybe even more, depending on the application of the word “copy.”

    As for magazine limits, the law still has the same loophole that transfers are banned but possession is not. Meaning you can still go out of state, buy all the mags you want, and bring them back with you. With this loophole, the mag limit is not the end of the world.

    All in all, it could be a LOT worse (not that I supported it. I don’t). I do think that the constant rallies made a difference with the feature list. People are starting to realize that pistol grips and telescoping stocks are not evil. They’re just ergonomic.

    • It doesn’t kick in until October 1st.

      “Del. Luiz Simmons, a Montgomery County Democrat, predicted that those moves, along with an existing spike in gun sales, would leave Maryland “armed to the teeth” before the ban could take effect. “We’re going to flood the state with assault weapons and then declare victory,” Simmons said.”

      I’m playing the world’s tiniest violin.

      Picked up 2 stripped lowers and will probably try to get more.

    • “it could be a LOT worse”

      I’d wait to see what happens in the Senate and/or the conference committee, if there is to be one.

      • At this point, the key to avoiding gun control in Maryland is delay. The legislative session ends Monday. Marylanders just need to hang on until then.

        In the House, there was a lot of pressure by even Democrats to exempt the AR-15, despite being extremely liberal and recently pro-gun control. Shockingly, these delegates seem to have actually listened to the arguments being made by the pro-gunners, and some delegates actually changed their minds based on the facts presented. The members of the Judiciary Committee seem to understand that an AWB is pointless, and the committee chair, Vallario (D), is known for refusing to allow feel-good, do-nothing laws out of committee.

        The Speaker of the House, Michael Busch, however, screwed Maryland gun owners by assigning the bill to two committees, thus allowing the other committee to push the law to the floor of the House. To get a House vote, the compromise appears to have been, give us the AR-15 so that we can save political face and tell our constituents that we banned the evil Newtown gun, in exchange, we’ll agree to relax the feature test to the point that it won’t really ban anything. All liberals want is the AR-15, and they only want it because their constituents are idiots.

        If the Senate does not go along with this compromise and demands a real AWB, that could cause problems. Both chambers would need to appoint members to a conference committee, who would try to negotiate a compromise that would be followed by another vote in both chambers. All of this would have to occur by the end of Monday.

        This gun control legislation is not yet a foregone conclusion. We just need some major foot-dragging over the next few days.

      • At this point, the key to avoiding gun control in Maryland is delay. The legislative session ends Monday. Marylanders just need to hang on until then.

        In the House, there was a lot of pressure by even Democrats to exempt the AR-15, despite being extremely liberal and recently pro-gun control. Shockingly, these delegates seem to have actually listened to the arguments being made by the pro-gunners, and some delegates actually changed their minds based on the facts presented. The members of the Judiciary Committee seem to understand that an AWB is pointless, and the committee chair, Vallario (D), is known for refusing to allow feel-good, do-nothing laws out of committee.

        The Speaker of the House, Michael Busch, however, screwed Maryland gun owners by assigning the bill to two committees, thus allowing the other committee to push the law to the floor of the House. To get a House vote, the compromise appears to have been, give us the AR-15 so that we can save political face and tell our constituents that we banned the evil Newtown gun, in exchange, we’ll agree to relax the feature test to the point that it won’t really ban anything. All liberals want is the AR-15, and they only want it because their constituents are idiots.

        If the Senate does not go along with this compromise and demands a real AWB, that could cause problems. Both chambers would need to appoint members to a conference committee, who would try to negotiate a compromise that would be followed by another vote in both chambers. All of this would have to occur by the end of Monday.

        This gun control legislation is not yet a foregone conclusion. We just need some major foot-dragging over the next few days.

    • Well, they did pass it pretty fast. I hope that means that the MD Senate agreed to all the changes the House made. It would be good to have a link to the final bill, if anyone has it.

  18. Beretta leaving Maryland? I doubt the Maryland State Police will care, seeing how the Beretta PX4s failed them miserably.

  19. Every time there is a backward step in our efforts it brings up a wail of anguish and despair from those among us who can’t see the use of any court cases, election, demos etc without specifying what else they have in mind. Revolt? Really?
    As a former member of law enforcement I assure you that there are many SWAT types both ready and willing to use all their training and equipment on any “nut” trying to use force in resistance to the new regulations – however dumb they may seem to us. It will end with you occupying a body bag and paving the way for still more dopey laws.
    No, despite the pedestrian nature of politics, the tedium of lobbying, the effort expanded in demos and the law’s delay, this is not only the most effective but the ONLY way to go. I gather that the Maryland law was modified by the influence of demos and lobbying – good for those who did it and continue the battle in the future.

    • Couldn’t agree more. Having lived in States with different gun laws, perhaps it’s a bit easier for me to appreciate that in the more restrictive ones the majority of the public is actually behind the restrictive gun laws. The only way to get anything done is through legitimate means, legislative and judicial, and through patiently educating the public about the meaning of various rules and their unfairness. Staging a “revolt” when the majority is against your viewpoint to begin with would be pointless in extreme.

      I wouldn’t forget our success in turning around public opinion that was against handguns 50 years ago, and the success at convincing more and more States to introduce “shall issue” concealed carry in the last 25 years. It took a very long time, but it worked in the end. I refuse to think it’s all downhill from here.

      • Thanks for the reply Dave. Let’s also remember the spread of the “Castle Doctrine” and the demise of any ammo tracking on a Federal Level.
        I understand the frustration, but the grabbers never sleep and we’ve simply got to keep slugging.

    • Every time there is a backward step in our efforts it brings up a wail of anguish and despair from those among us who can’t see the use of any court cases, election, demos etc without specifying what else they have in mind. Revolt? Really?

      As a former member of law enforcement I assure you that there are many SWAT types both ready and willing to use all their training and equipment on any “nut” trying to use force in resistance to the new regulations – however dumb they may seem to us. It will end with you occupying a body bag and paving the way for still more dopey laws.

      No, despite the pedestrian nature of politics, the tedium of lobbying, the effort expanded in demos and the law’s delay, this is not only the most effective but the ONLY way to go. I gather that the Maryland law was modified by the influence of demos and lobbying – good for those who did it and continue the battle in the future.

      But the law passed and bans AR-15 and limits ammo clips. So what did lobbying accomplish? Nothing.

      And I can assure that if this government chooses to confiscate guns there will be many swat types laying dead in the street at the hands of a determined citizen militia who know they are fighting for their lives.

  20. Obama will gracefully leave office as scheduled.
    The People still have enough 2nd amendment rights.

  21. And who will enforce these gun laws on us? The state police and other cops who by doing so are betraying their own people. They should refuse to obey this order to violate our civil rights.

  22. Police are going to be used as cannon fodder to come against the american people to start the civil war that the ruling class wants. The powers that be know the police are a bone to be chewed by the civil war that is coming and they dont give a rats ass about any of their lives.

    Swat have very bad tactics and shooting ability. They line up like ducks in a row and that of course puts them in enfilade. Look at virginia tech video and you will see some hiding behind trees with their teeth chattering.

  23. Just all typical maryland chumps who think that elections are real and everything can be resolved by corrupt legislators that make hitler look fair or corrupt courts run by jesuit stooge assclown judges.

    You will be legislated into total slavery just as the people of nazi germany were.

  24. avatar Clouded says:
    April 4, 2013 at 11:31

    I think both of them are smart enough to retire after Obama is out of office. I hope the republican party is also smart enough to get a damn candidate that isn’t Obama-lite and can actually win, especially if Hillary runs in 2016.

    Sir,

    Are you serious?

    The Republicans will do little, if not nothing, in our defense. They are one and the same as the Democrats.

    Name me one piece of unconstitutional infringements on our 2A rights that were not actively supported by (at the least the leadership of) the Republican party.

    Hellsbells, Romney happily banned semi rifles in Mass, and only “changed his mind” when he ran against Obama.

    It is a repeated failing of this two-sided but same coin we call the “Two Party System.”

    We are on our own. Time to wake up to that fact.

    Jim
    Ft Worth, Texas

Comments are closed.