Maryland's model for gun regulation

[Robb]

Our view: The bill Gov. O'Malley will sign tomorrow will make the state a national leader in balancing the rights of law-abiding gun owners with the need to keep our communities safe

Tomorrow, Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to sign into law the most comprehensive gun control legislation Maryland has seen in at least 25 years, a bill that will not only help guard against a mass shooting incident, like December's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, but will also help fight the day-to-day violence that plagues Baltimore and other communities. The bill has become doubly important with the failure — at least for the moment — of attempts to tighten gun laws on the federal level, both because it will make Marylanders safer and because it can serve as a model for other states as they seek ways to address gun violence.

The bill, which was the centerpiece of Mr. O'Malley's agenda in this year's General Assembly session, was watered down only slightly by the legislature, and in some respects was improved. It bans a variety of assault weapons, limits ammunition magazines to no more than 10 rounds, tightens the standards by which someone can be banned from purchasing a gun because of mental illness and, perhaps most crucially, institutes a licensing system that requires prospective handgun buyers to provide their fingerprints and undergo training. Previously, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence had placed Maryland in the third tier of states for the effectiveness of its gun laws; these measures should elevate it to near the top of the rankings.

Despite the use of assault weapons with large ammunition magazines in the recent mass shootings in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., Congress showed almost no appetite for reviving the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 or for limiting the size of clips. Despite polling showing that as much as 90 percent of the public supports closing the loophole that allows private sales at gun shows, over the Internet and elsewhere to take place without a required background check, and despite the bipartisan effort of pro-gun Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania to craft compromise legislation on the issue, that loophole remains in federal law as well.

But like Maryland, Connecticut and New York enacted strict assault weapons bans. Those states and Colorado enacted limits on magazine sizes. Rhode Island legislators are considering assault weapons and magazine size bills right now. Colorado, Connecticut and Delaware passed universal background checks. (Maryland and New York already had them.) Delaware and Maryland both enacted reporting requirements for lost or stolen guns. New Jersey is considering a measure to strengthen its registration system for gun buyers and, like Maryland, to require firearms training.

To be sure, some deeply pro-gun states actually expanded firearm rights — South Dakota, for example, decided to allow teachers to carry guns in the classroom. But overall, the increase in gun control measures considered by state legislatures this year far outstripped the rise in pro-gun bills, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Considering how little momentum gun control advocates had on the state level in recent years, even in liberal states like Maryland, that is progress.

Read More: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-gun-bill-20130515,0,1426888.story