Press Release
CeaseFire Maryland
3000 Chestnut Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21211
www.hgabuse.org
Contact:
Leah Barrett
Phone: 240-535-5083
As Congress debates fate offederal ban, state legislatures work to keep military-style weapons off streets
Baltimore, MD - CeaseFire Maryland today (Monday) called on members of Congress to pass H. R. 2038 (McCarthy/Conyers) and S. 1431(Lautenberg/Corzine), identical bills that will ban the manufacture and sale of military-style assault weapons. At the same time, it called on Maryland legislators to pass a state bill banning assault weapons in the event Congress fails to act. Congress is debating whether to renew and strengthen the current federal ban, which expires on September 14, 2004.
"We urge every member of Congress to renew and strengthen the federal ban on assault weapons," said Leah Barrett, Executive Director. "But in the meantime, we have to look out for ourselves at the state level." Maryland has a ban on assault pistols (1994), but not on assault rifles. Such a ban would close an important loophole in the state. Maryland would be following other states such as California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Hawaii in enacting such a ban. Attorney General John Ashcroft has said that the 1994 ban is constitutional and President Bush supports renewing the 1994 ban.
The guns of choice for criminals, assault weapons were used to kill one in five law enforcement officers slain in the line of duty between 1998 and 2001, according to FBI statistics. Ata press conference today at City Hall in Baltimore, Mayor Martin O'Malley called for Maryland legislators to take action and pass a Maryland state law that would ban the infamous Bushmaster assault rifle that killed ten people and wounded three last October. He said: "There is absolutely no reason why civilians should be allowed to own military-style assault weapons. These weapons were designed and developed for a specific purpose - laying down a high volume of fire over a wide killing zone, also known as 'hosing down' an area."
Baltimore City Police Commissioner Kevin Clark agreed, saying, "As a police officer, I know that the type of gun used to commit a crime can make all the difference. Certainly no one would argue that the snipers could have done the damage they did - shooting with deadly accuracy from hundreds of yards away - with a mere handgun. It took an assault rifle designed to inflict the maximum damage to a human body."
H.R.2038 and S. 1431 are significantly stronger than the current federal law, which only bans specific models of weapons. Skirting the intent of the federal law, the gun industry continues to manufacture assault weapons with mere cosmetic changes to banned weapons. The Bushmaster AR-15 rifle - a civilian version of the military M-16 - used in last fall's DC-area sniper attacks is an example of one of these "copycat" weapons. Congressman Elijah Cummings, a co-sponsor of H.R. 2038, urged the Maryland Congressional delegation to support these bills to ban these weaponsof war from America's streets.
The Maryland legislation, modeled on the strong federal bills, is sponsored by Senator Robert Garagiola (District 15) and Delegate Neil Quinter (District 13)and would ban all assault weapons, including "copycats