Thursday, April 18, 2013
The congressman accused lawmakers of bowing to special interests after the Senate rejected expanded background checks on firearms. Do you agree?
The U.S. Senate rejected expanded background checks on firearm sales Wednesday, rejecting bipartisan legislation endorsed by President Barack Obama. The bipartisan effort of Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA), failed 54-46, falling short of the 60-vote threshold needed to break a filibuster, The Huffington Post reported. The measure would have expanded the current check system to cover sales of weapons on the Internet and at gun shows. Opponents said the expansion would have set the stage for a national registry of gun owners and said that it would not have prevented tragedies such as the Newtown shootings, HuffPo reports (see Gun Bill Background Check Amendment Fails, Other Key Provisions Follow). In response, U.S. Rep. …
Sunday, April 14, 2013
The Reasonable School Discipline Act of 2013 was introduced in the Maryland Legislature.
7-year-old boy at Park Elementary School in Anne Arundel County recently was disciplined after he reportedly made his food look like a gun, according to a teacher. Glen Burnie Patch reported about the incident in March, quoting Assistant Principal Myrna Phillips' letter to parents that said the student "used food to make inappropriate gestures that disrupted the class." The Washington Post and a number of other national media outlets reported the incident as a student shaping a strawberry-filled pastry into a gun, and it captured national attention with political commentator George Will naming the child the "Pop-Tart Terrorist." The Post also reported that in the almost three months since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, two …
Thursday, March 28, 2013
"I wonder if anyone involved in the drafting of the Editorial even knew anything about Maryland's existing laws regarding the purchase of centerfire rifles—particularly how strict Maryland's laws are compared to other States.'—Del. Kathleen Dumais, D-1.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
A Washington Post editorial calls out Simmons and Dumais for push to exempt AR-15s from a proposed weapons ban. Montgomery County lawmakers say they were mischaracterized in the editorial.
Two Montgomery County lawmakers are being criticized for efforts to weaken a proposed assault weapons ban. In an editorial published Friday (see “Maryland’s shrinking assault-weapons ban”), The Washington Post criticized delegates Luiz R.S. Simmons (D-Dist. 17) and Kathleen M. Dumais (D-Dist. 15), both of Rockville, for suggesting the ban exempt AR-15s, semiautomatic weapons used by the Aurora, CO, shooter and in the Capital Beltway sniper attacks. The Post editorial said: “…the reality is that the number of Marylanders with a legitimate need to own AR-15s is minuscule. By contrast, repeated, tragic and bloody experience in Maryland and elsewhere in the United States makes plain the overwhelming need for a comprehensive ban on assault …
With Governor O'Malley's gun control package still awaiting a vote in the Maryland House Judiciary Committee, a group of mothers and their children hit the halls of the Maryland State House on Tuesday to voice their concerns.
Video by Caroline Woodall, Capital News Service With Governor O'Malley's gun control package still awaiting a vote in the Maryland House Judiciary Committee, a group of mothers and their children hit the halls of the Maryland State House on Tuesday to urge delegates to approve what they call "common sense" solutions to the growing problem of gun violence. "In a country where eight children are shot and killed every day, it is imperative that representatives hear directly and frequently from American mothers," Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said in a Moms Demand Action statement. "As moms, we will remain focused on the safety of our children rather than be influenced or even intimidated by powerful …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Sen. Brian Frosh supported the restrictions, saying that the answer to the gun violence problem isn’t more guns.
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Thursday, February 28
By Lucas High, Capital News Service The Senate overcame a Republican filibuster, as well as numerous attempts to weaken the bill throughout the amendment process, and approved Gov. Martin O’Malley’s gun control legislation Thursday. While the bill was amended slightly on Wednesday, the final Senate version of SB 281, also known as the Firearm Safety Act of 2013, accomplishes most of O’Malley’s gun control goals. If the House passes its companion bill, which is scheduled to be heard on Friday, Maryland will have some of the strictest gun laws in the country. The legislation would ban many assault rifles, lower the maximum capacity for magazines from 20 rounds to 10, require handgun purchasers to submit fingerprints in order to obtain a …
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
President Obama pressed for social and economic change in his State of the Union address.
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Tuesday, February 12
By Jeremy Barr, Capital News Service President Barack Obama used his first State of the Union address as a second-term president Tuesday to focus on an economy that continues to struggle toward recovery and to lobby for better gun laws to stem violence that claimed two student lives in Maryland the same day. “A growing economy that creates good, middle-class jobs—that must be the North Star that guides our efforts," Obama said. "Every day, we should ask ourselves three questions as a nation: How do we attract more jobs to our shores? How do we equip our people with the skills needed to do those jobs? And how do we make sure that hard work leads to a decent living?” His administration released a package of job training, business …
Friday, January 25, 2013
U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen is slated to speak at the rally in front of the Washington Monument.
Montgomery County residents taking part in Saturday's March on Washington to Prevent Gun Violence will see at least one familar face in the crowd: that of U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington, who will speak at the march, according to a statement from his office. Participants in the march will gather at 10 a.m. in front of the U.S. Capitol's reflecting pool. After a silent march from the Capitol to the Washington Monument via Constitution Avenue, participants will hold a rally at the monument at 11 a.m. in which Van Hollen and others will deliver remarks. March participants will include religious leaders, elected officials, victims of gun violence, children’s health and safety advocates and concerned citizens, …
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
If the Montgomery County Council approves the request, all 132 elementary campuses could receive the upgrade by July.
Montgomery County parents may rest a little easier after the county school board voted Tuesday to speed up spending to increase security at Montgomery County elementary schools. The Montgomery County Board of Education voted unanimously to request an additional $364,000 to place video intercom systems at the entrance of every county elementary school. If the Montgomery County Council approves the request, all 132 elementary campuses could receive the upgrade by July, the Washington Examiner reported. Passage by the County Council is likely. On Monday, Council President Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring and Education Committee Chair Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring sent a letter to school board President Christopher …
David Epstein
1:26 pm on Friday, April 19, 2013
Congress has been notorious in its failure to listen to their constituents. Two notable examples are limiting the proliferation of guns, especially among the people who should not have them, and ethics. The ethics restrictions are not like Swiss Cheese. They're more like a picture frame with nothing inside. A third party entity without an axe to grind should be able to kick the offenders out of … more ›