In Annapolis today, members of the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing today on a bill that would bar the State Police from rejecting an application for a permit to carry a concealed weapon, if the applicant passes a criminal background check, and all other legal requirements.
Harford County Democratic Delegate B. Daniel Riley says his legislation changes one word of the current state law from “may issue a permit” to “shall issue a permit.”
Riley says current law creates two different classes of gun owners.
“If you have a lot of money, and you have a lot of notoriety your chances (of getting a permit) are pretty good,” Riley told WBAL News.
“If you are an average working Joe your chances of getting a permit are zero and none.”
Riley says permits are often issued to merchants transport large amounts of cash to the bank for deposits, but they are not issued to people who want to carry a gun for personal protection.
Hundreds of gun owners attended today’s hearing.
Don Pollack, a Pentagon retiree from Bowie told WBAL News that he believes the current law is unfair.
“I can carry in 34 states. I have seven permits in my pocket at the moment. Yet when I take my wife to the…mall or to the beach, I cannot protect her or myself,” Pollack told WBAL News.
There are 12,000 individuals who have concealed carry permits. State Police reject about 250 applications a year, because the applicant has not provided an acceptable reason for carrying a gun, even though these people have met the legal requirements.
State Police expect about 2,100 new applications each year, if this law were to take effect, and it would cost another $300,000 per year, to pay for two troopers and and additional clerk to process the applications.
The committee heard testimony on the bill, but not vote was taken, and none has been scheduled as of yet.
http://wbal.com/stories/templates/news.aspx?articleid=1040&zoneid=3
If issuing Maryland citizens a permit to protect themselves is a financial issue then why not charge $200 per permit. If the State Police expect 2,100 new applications then that would add up to $420,000. That would give the Government an extra $120,000 to play with. However I think the 2,100 figure is on the low side. When Kansas enacted their CCW laws they issued close to 10,000 permits. Which would be $1,700,000 in additional revenue for Maryland. Not to mention local shooting ranges, sporting goods stores and training facilities would all see increased traffic, which means more tax revenue. Safer citizens, lower crime and more money, In the midst of an economic downturn it seems like a no brain-er.
Upadate: Here’s another good article on the Bill http://www.examiner.com/a-1174311~Gun_measure_seeks_to_make_it_easier_for_average_citizens_to_carry_firearms.html
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Looks like a great idea to generate revenue to pay for all of MOM’s special projects.
I’m calling for a Protest……..start wearing an empty holster when out & about!
Don’t forget to attach a label with the quote, ” EMPTY due to 2nd Class Citizenship”.
I’m not really a gun guy but I don’t understand why Maryland is so far behind the curve? I looked at a few web sites and it looks like there are only a few hold out states. Look at the map.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concealed_carry
Why is no one bringing up the fact that anti gun and anti carry laws are based on racism? After the civil war blacks were declared equals. Since we had the same rights as whites the only way to disarm the blacks was to disarm everyone. I think Annapolis is living in the past and fear a black man with a gun.
I like Lambo’s idea but I’m sure there is some Maryland Law against it.
More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws (Studies in Law and
Economics)by John R. Lott Jr. is the difinitive “right to carry” study. It was
published in the late 90′s. The statistics argue for reducing regulation of firearm
carrying. However, the book may be hard to find in the libraries controlled by
the People’s Republic of Maryland.
The bad guys already carry without a permit so why not profit from the good guys? Plus we need someone to toss us a bone after the special session tax pounding we received.
Curt, No one in Annapolis wants to hear about the link between racism and guns because they believe they are above it.
The State Police are worried about 2,100 applicants a year?
I was just at O’MalleyWatch. Their RealID story says that the MVA
(per one of the MVA’s own), has 2,000 applicants holding only foreign
documentation EACH WEEK!!! Why are they OK with that???
Manchester Bob, that’s a pretty good question. It’s just further proof that they have more rights than we do and they get to not pay taxes in the process!
WHATS THE BIG DEAL MY EX-SON-IN LAW SPENT TIME IN PRISON AND HAS A CARRY A GUN PERMIT
Thomas Jefferson….
“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. “