From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
NRA-ILA FAX ALERT
Vol. 8, No. 1 1/5/01
MARYLAND LAW CREATES "de facto BAN" ON HANDGUNS
Maryland's "ballistic fingerprinting" requirement has had a chilling
effect on the lawful sale of handguns in the not-so-"Free State." Many new
handguns, perfectly legal in most states, are simply not coming into
Maryland, which means the supply for any law-abiding citizen who hopes to
buy a new handgun is drying up. It seems that many gun makers are not able
or willing to comply with Maryland's requirement that any handgun
manufactured after October 1, 2000, that is intended to be sold in
Maryland, include with the firearm a shell casing from a round of
ammunition that has been fired from that handgun, along with identifying
information on the handgun and the casing. The casing and information is
then stored at the Maryland State Police Crime Laboratory, creating, in
effect, a handgun registration system.
When the problem of gun makers and distributors not shipping new handguns
into Maryland was brought to the attention of U.S. Rep. Robert Ehrlich,
Jr. (R-Md.), last October, he immediately sent a letter of inquiry to Col.
David B. Mitchell, the Maryland State Police Superintendent. Rep. Ehrlich,
a solid friend of Maryland's gun owners, asked Col. Mitchell for "a
detailed accounting of handgun manufacturers or distributers who have
given notice...of their intent to provide handguns for sale in Maryland."
The response, which came on December 13, confirmed many fears. Mitchell
stated that his investigation found that nine manufacturers have
"prohibited distributers from transporting their handguns to Maryland,"
three others may comply with the new requirement, but have not begun to
yet, and three more have stated they will supply "only limited models." At
the core of the confusion is the simple fact that the firearm distribution
system employed by most manufacturers is not designed to segregate guns by
state.
As the supply of legal handguns available to Maryland's gun owners and gun
dealers starts to diminish, even some of the sponsors of the legislation
are beginning to realize there is a real problem. Maryland House Speaker
Casper R. Taylor, Jr. (D-Allegany), one of the bill's most powerful
proponents when it was under debate, commented that the new law has
actually created a "de facto ban" on some firearms that are completely
legal. According to an article in the December 29, 2000 issue of the
Washington Post, Taylor sent a letter Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph
Curran, Jr. (D) requesting he "reinterpret the law to make clear that gun
makers unwilling to supply shell casings may continue to ship their
weapons to Maryland." Curran responded by stating the state police can
determine whether a gun dealer may sell a handgun when a manufacturer has
not supplied a shell casing. But Curran's office also stated any handguns
sent without casings can be seized. This "Catch 22" should come as no
surprise, as Curran is the same AG who stated in 1999, "Our public policy
goal must be to rid our communities of handguns."
FLORIDA COURT UPHOLDS PRIVACY RIGHTS OF NRA MEMBERS
NRA and Unified Sportsmen of Florida (USF), an NRA affiliate led by NRA
Past President Marion P. Hammer, won a significant court victory on
December 27, 2000, when the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third
District, ruled that the identity of members of these organizations need
not be disclosed in a lawsuit. This issue arose when the City of South
Miami, in response to a suit filed against it by NRA and USF, demanded a
list of the names and addresses of all NRA and USF members who live in the
City. The original NRA/USF suit, which is still pending, was filed because
the City had enacted a law mandating trigger locks be used to secure all
firearms�a violation of Florida's statewide preemption law, and a conflict
with state law that allows firearms to be secured by many other methods.
Speaking on behalf of both NRA and USF, Hammer called the City's demand
for the names of members "nothing more than harassment." The City even
went so far as to demand a list of members who own firearms, along with
information on how they store their firearms. Hammer went on to call the
City's effort "nothing less than a devious political attempt to try to
force us to give up our constitutional right to privacy in order to
exercise our right to seek relief in the courts�from the illegal actions
of local anti-gun politicians."
When a lower court ordered that NRA and USF disclose at least 10 members,
Hammer stated, "We have never and will never release our membership
information. We will not release ten names nor one single name, period."
In its reversal of the lower court's ruling, the Court of Appeals held:
"We are not convinced that simply because the Associations filed the
action as plaintiffs, they have waived their privacy rights concerning the
members' names. The discovery of the names should not have been ordered.
We therefore quash the order."
NOMINATIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED FOR 2000 NRA-ILA VOLUNTEER AWARDS
The "Jay M. Littlefield Memorial NRA-ILA Volunteer of the Year Award" is
an annual honor that recognizes an NRA member who demonstrates
exceptionally meritorious activism in defense of our Second Amendment
rights. Similarly, the "NRA-ILA Volunteer Organization of the Year Award"
is bestowed upon that group which has gone above and beyond the call of
duty in defending our freedoms over the past year. Nominations for these
honors for last year (2000) should be submitted to:
NRA-ILA Volunteer Awards
c/o Chris Manthos
NRA-ILA Grassroots Division
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030
They can also be faxed to Chris at (703) 267-3918. All nominations must be
submitted by NRA members in good standing and accompanied by a one page
description of why the nominated individual/organization is deserving.
Winners will be selected by NRA-ILA staff, and will be acknowledged and
presented with their awards at this year's Annual Meetings in Kansas City,
Missouri. The deadline for submissions is April 27, 2001.
N.Y. GOV. PATAKI CONTINUES TO PANDER TO ANTI-GUN EXTREMISTS
New York Governor George Pataki (R) seems bent on alienating himself from
law-abiding gun owners, hunters, and conservatives�a significant voting
bloc that contributed to his election in 1998�as he announced his latest
proposal to "reinforce [New York's] gun laws" in his State of the State
Address on Wednesday, January 3. Pataki claims his newest proposal will
"reinforce [New York's] gun laws"�already among the strictest in the
nation�and he will also propose an increase in penalties for anyone caught
"trafficking in illegal weapons." While it may sound like the Governor is
attempting to seize on NRA's message of enforcing existing laws, and
getting tough on real criminals, we'll have to wait to see the particulars
of this latest scheme. As they say, the devil's in the details, and this
is the same Governor who turned his back on law-abiding gun owners last
year when he first vetoed legislation that would have encouraged schools
to teach life-saving firearm safety courses such as NRA's award-winning
Eddie Eagle GunSafe© Program, then leapt feet-first into the camp of the
gun-ban community when he rammed his anti-gun legislative package through
the New York legislature. Pataki described last year's Draconian
legislation�which included language that attempted to mirror the federal
ban on so-called assault weapons and a "ballistic fingerprinting"
requirement (i.e., backdoor gun registration, such as in Maryland)�as
"common sense laws that protect the rights of honest gun owners...." If
Pataki feels that banning guns and registration schemes protect honest gun
owners, one has to wonder what he has in mind next.
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