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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-ban0322,0,5724313.story?coll=bal-home-headlines
Bill would replace federal law due to expire; Last-ditch maneuver possible
By Kimberly A.C. Wilson
Sun Staff
Originally published March 22, 2004, 8:33 PM EST
A proposed state ban on assault weapons, which faces a governor who opposes it and a Senate committee poised to reject it by a single vote, appears doomed this year in Annapolis -- unless the sponsor pursues an unusual parliamentary maneuver.
Failure means firearms outlawed by the expiring federal ban could go back on the market in Maryland this fall.
But Sen. Robert J. Garagiola could wed the stalled weapons ban with a tax bill he has recently introduced. That effort may be the last, best hope of supporters because the original bill is hung up in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.
The 11-member committee is split: six against the ban; five in favor. A version of the ban awaits a vote in the House Judiciary Committee, but, by tradition, committees do not consider bills coming over from the other chamber when they have rejected similar measures.
Judicial Proceedings Chairman Brian E. Frosh has held off on a committee vote for six weeks, hoping to sway the one-time swing vote and now-opponent, Sen. John A. Giannetti, Jr.
But Frosh has been unable to persuade Giannetti and now concedes there are insufficient votes to pass the bill, which he supports.
"I don't see anything else favorable playing out," a dejected Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat, said last week.
The ban bill, sponsored by Garagiola of Montgomery County, would outlaw 45 types of assault weapons, to help fill in loopholes in the federal ban.
But Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., has taken an aggressive role in lobbying against the measure, sounding out members of the Senate committee to identify one additional ally to kill the bill. His message found its mark with Giannetti, a Democrat from Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties who had considered sponsoring the assault weapons ban legislation last fall.
"The governor strongly opposes this legislation," explained Paul E. Schurick, Ehrlich's communications director. "The conversations the governor had with Sen. Giannetti were in large part philosophical discussions. They talked about other states, the difference between gun control and crime control, the effectiveness and lack of effectiveness of gun control laws."
Last month, Giannetti traded his swing vote for a "No" vote, prompting the chairman to delay any vote while the bill's sponsor explored other means to get the legislation before the full Senate.
Garagiola may have struck gold with Senate Bill 927, titled "Assault Weapon User Fee." In troduced by him on March 8 and presently under review by the Senate Rules Committee, the bill would impose a 10 percent tax on the sale of assault weapons in the state.
Under state legislative rules, amendments have to be related to an aspect of the original bill in order to discourage unrelated riders. Because the tax bill relates to guns, it could be amended with language comparable to the federal ban in committee or on the floor of the Senate.
If released by the Rules Committee -- where late-filed bills begin -- the tax bill would be routed to Budget and Taxation Committee, avoiding Judicial Proceedings.
"I thought it was ingenious," Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg, a Baltimore City Democrat.
Garagiola declined to talk specifics about how he'd get his bill out of committee, but he said he hasn't given up trying.
"I wouldn't put the RIP on it yet, we're looking for ways to overcome this obstacle," he said.
But Leah Barrett, executive director of CeaseFire Maryland, a group that fights for gun control in Annapolis, remains glum.
"Pure politics," she sniffed. Best case scenario, Maryland winds up with law that replicates the federal ban, she said, and that isn't nearly enough. "That's not what we were hoping for, but considering the political realities, we're going to try to get what we can."
Jim Purtilo, editor of Tripwire, a 60,000 circulation gun rights newsletter in Maryland, is ready to gloat. But he said he'll try to wait until the General Assembly adjourns on April 12.
"I don't doubt that we'll hear more hollering and debate about this issue but I don't think that changes the picture in the end," he said. "No vote, that's a victory; if it gets killed, that's a really big victory."
Legislators from seven other states actively considering similar bans are tracking the fate of Maryland's proposed assault weapons bill, written to go into effect when the 1994 federal ban on 19 named firearms expires in September.
Bills in Louisiana, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania would restrict the sale, transfer and possession of certain semi-automatic military-style weapons.
"The politics in each state is very, very different," said Eric Gorovitz, policy director of the Washington D.C.-based Coalition To Stop Gun Violence.
Ban advocates are more hopeful in New York, where legislators this month blessed a ban on .50 caliber sniper rifles and are expected to take up a broader assault weapons prohibition in coming weeks.
Like California, Connecticut, and New Jersey, New York already has in place a ban on assault weapons -- a ban gun control advocates hope to see stiffened this year with the inclusion of copycats, modification kits, and background checks on the sales of "grand-fathered" weapons.
Bill would replace federal law due to expire; Last-ditch maneuver possible
By Kimberly A.C. Wilson
Sun Staff
Originally published March 22, 2004, 8:33 PM EST
A proposed state ban on assault weapons, which faces a governor who opposes it and a Senate committee poised to reject it by a single vote, appears doomed this year in Annapolis -- unless the sponsor pursues an unusual parliamentary maneuver.
Failure means firearms outlawed by the expiring federal ban could go back on the market in Maryland this fall.
But Sen. Robert J. Garagiola could wed the stalled weapons ban with a tax bill he has recently introduced. That effort may be the last, best hope of supporters because the original bill is hung up in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.
The 11-member committee is split: six against the ban; five in favor. A version of the ban awaits a vote in the House Judiciary Committee, but, by tradition, committees do not consider bills coming over from the other chamber when they have rejected similar measures.
Judicial Proceedings Chairman Brian E. Frosh has held off on a committee vote for six weeks, hoping to sway the one-time swing vote and now-opponent, Sen. John A. Giannetti, Jr.
But Frosh has been unable to persuade Giannetti and now concedes there are insufficient votes to pass the bill, which he supports.
"I don't see anything else favorable playing out," a dejected Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat, said last week.
The ban bill, sponsored by Garagiola of Montgomery County, would outlaw 45 types of assault weapons, to help fill in loopholes in the federal ban.
But Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., has taken an aggressive role in lobbying against the measure, sounding out members of the Senate committee to identify one additional ally to kill the bill. His message found its mark with Giannetti, a Democrat from Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties who had considered sponsoring the assault weapons ban legislation last fall.
"The governor strongly opposes this legislation," explained Paul E. Schurick, Ehrlich's communications director. "The conversations the governor had with Sen. Giannetti were in large part philosophical discussions. They talked about other states, the difference between gun control and crime control, the effectiveness and lack of effectiveness of gun control laws."
Last month, Giannetti traded his swing vote for a "No" vote, prompting the chairman to delay any vote while the bill's sponsor explored other means to get the legislation before the full Senate.
Garagiola may have struck gold with Senate Bill 927, titled "Assault Weapon User Fee." In troduced by him on March 8 and presently under review by the Senate Rules Committee, the bill would impose a 10 percent tax on the sale of assault weapons in the state.
Under state legislative rules, amendments have to be related to an aspect of the original bill in order to discourage unrelated riders. Because the tax bill relates to guns, it could be amended with language comparable to the federal ban in committee or on the floor of the Senate.
If released by the Rules Committee -- where late-filed bills begin -- the tax bill would be routed to Budget and Taxation Committee, avoiding Judicial Proceedings.
"I thought it was ingenious," Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg, a Baltimore City Democrat.
Garagiola declined to talk specifics about how he'd get his bill out of committee, but he said he hasn't given up trying.
"I wouldn't put the RIP on it yet, we're looking for ways to overcome this obstacle," he said.
But Leah Barrett, executive director of CeaseFire Maryland, a group that fights for gun control in Annapolis, remains glum.
"Pure politics," she sniffed. Best case scenario, Maryland winds up with law that replicates the federal ban, she said, and that isn't nearly enough. "That's not what we were hoping for, but considering the political realities, we're going to try to get what we can."
Jim Purtilo, editor of Tripwire, a 60,000 circulation gun rights newsletter in Maryland, is ready to gloat. But he said he'll try to wait until the General Assembly adjourns on April 12.
"I don't doubt that we'll hear more hollering and debate about this issue but I don't think that changes the picture in the end," he said. "No vote, that's a victory; if it gets killed, that's a really big victory."
Legislators from seven other states actively considering similar bans are tracking the fate of Maryland's proposed assault weapons bill, written to go into effect when the 1994 federal ban on 19 named firearms expires in September.
Bills in Louisiana, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania would restrict the sale, transfer and possession of certain semi-automatic military-style weapons.
"The politics in each state is very, very different," said Eric Gorovitz, policy director of the Washington D.C.-based Coalition To Stop Gun Violence.
Ban advocates are more hopeful in New York, where legislators this month blessed a ban on .50 caliber sniper rifles and are expected to take up a broader assault weapons prohibition in coming weeks.
Like California, Connecticut, and New Jersey, New York already has in place a ban on assault weapons -- a ban gun control advocates hope to see stiffened this year with the inclusion of copycats, modification kits, and background checks on the sales of "grand-fathered" weapons.
