Tag: handguns

Unsettled Law

| by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

Crafting an appropriate response for Maryland to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade will be quite a challenge.

New issues arise almost every day.

If a health care provider in Maryland advertises online that it provides abortions, can the provider be penalized if it treats a Texas resident?

The National Right to Life Committee has already drafted model legislation.

What can we do in response in Annapolis?

A pro-life leader in Maryland spoke last week of the need to provide healthcare and other services for newborns and young children.

I’ve begun discussions to seek common ground for a lobbying effort next year with a representative of this leader’s organization.

We will also have to revise Maryland’s handgun licensing law, which is very similar to the New York law the Supreme Court struck down.  .

“Months before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that New York’s law governing the carrying of handguns was unconstitutional,” the New York Times reports, “Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers had already started to discuss how to counter the spread of firearms.”

Similar planning is taking place in New Jersey.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/28/nyregion/gun-law-ny-nj.html

No such bipartisan discussions in Maryland, where Governor Larry Hogan and gubernatorial candidate Kelly Schulz claim that abortion and gun safety are “settled law.”

Gun Safety – No Longer Settled Law

| by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

We used to have a Handgun Permit Review Board in Maryland.

Starting in 1972, if you wanted to carry, wear, or transport a handgun outside of your home, you sought a permit from the State Police.  You could appeal that decision to the Handgun Board.

In most instances, the State Police allowed individuals to carry a gun only when on the job.  Over the years, there were few reversals of those holdings, until Governor Hogan’s appointees rejected 83% of those decisions in 2018 for being too restrictive.

The next year, Delegate Atterbeary and I introduced legislation eliminating the Handgun Board.

In its place, administrative law judges now hear appeals from the decisions of the State Police.  The full-time job of these judges is to hear appeals from actions taken by state agencies.

However, this structure is in the cross hairs of the Supreme Court.  By the end of June, the court is widely expected to rule that a similar New York law violates the Second Amendment.

What should we do if that happens?

We should seek legal advice from Attorney General Brian Frosh.  What action, if any,  regulating handguns can the Governor take by executive order?  When the General Assembly returns in January, what action can the new legislature and the new Governor take?

During his term in office, Governor Hogan has stated that both gun regulation and abortion are matters of settled law.

That is no longer the case.

 

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A Celebration of Life for my Mother, Babette Hecht Rosenberg, will be held on Sunday, June 12 at 2:30 at the Har Sinai – Oheb Shalom, 7310 Park Heights Av.

 

You are welcome to join us.

I waited until the midnight hour

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2018 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I testified in the midnight hour last night.

I’ve passed bills in the last hour of the 90-day session. I’ve seen my bills die because the clock ran out at midnight.

I don’t think I’ve ever testified on a bill as late as I did yesterday.
House Bill 819 was one of 40 gun bills heard by the Judiciary Committee, starting at 1 pm.

This legislation deals with a license to carry a concealed weapon, specifically who hears appeals from the initial decision made by the State Police.

Under existing law, it’s the Handgun Permit Review Board, whose members are appointed by the Governor.

The current members, all appointees of Governor Hogan, have reversed many more license denials by the State Police than did their predecessors.

HB 819 would send those appeals to the Office of Administrative Hearings, where administrative law judges are experienced in reviewing decisions by state agencies.

A little later than normal, but still early this morning, I contacted OAH to get the relevant data on issues raised the night before by the pro-gun opponents of HB 819.

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Tzedek means justice, in Hebrew.

At the funeral of Judge Dana Levitz, one of his eulogists told the mourners that the judge’s license plate was TZEDEK.

That prompted me to ask the Governor’s Office if that license plate could be retired.

It soon was and will not be issued again.

I told Dale Levitz, Dana’s widow, and she has given me permission to share this story.

We call this a mitzvah, a good deed that is a positive commandment.

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