Legislation to ban sale of semiautomatic guns dies with 6-5 vote
By Michael Dresser
Sun Staff
Originally published April 2, 2004, 1:21 PM EST
A Senate committee killed a proposal to ban assault weapons today, ending all possibility that the General Assembly will put a gun control bill on Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich's desk this year.
The 6-5 vote against the bill in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee came as no surprise because Sen. John A. Giannetti Jr., who represented the swing vote on the panel, announced his intent to vote no weeks ago.
The Prince George's Democrat delivered on his promise today, joining the committee's three Republicans and two conservative Democrats in opposing the bill sponsored by Sen. Robert J. Garagiola.
Before defeating the bill, the committee rejected an attempt by Garagiola to amend the bill to narrow the ban to a list of 19 semiautomatic weapons covered by the current federal ban, which expires in September.
The Montgomery County Democrat argued that Maryland should at least continue a ban on such currently prohibited weapons as Israel's Uzi and Russia's AK-47.
"If we don't support this amendment today, this is really our last opportunity," Garagiola said.
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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-weapons0402,0,836952.story?
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