Maryland: "Gun Dealers Preparing For New Trigger-Lock Law"

[cuchulainn]

http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/1857365/detail.html

Gun Dealers Preparing For New Trigger-Lock Law
POSTED: 9:24 a.m. EST December 27, 2002

Some Maryland gun dealers are worried that the state's new trigger lock law will hurt their business. The law takes effect Wednesday.

The measure bans the sale of handguns made after Jan. 1 without internal trigger locks. But few manufacturers produce handguns with internal locks, so the possible impact on Maryland's gun shops could be significant.

The owner of Outdoor Sportsman in Essex, Jack Barnhart, predicts the law will affect his handgun sales by 80 to 85 percent. The provision is part of the Responsible Gun Safety Act signed by Gov. Parris Glendening in 2000. At the time, it was the most stringent state gun control package in the country.


The editor of the gun-rights advocacy newsletter Tripwire, James Purtilo, says lawsuits seeking injunctive relief will be coming after New Year's Day. Purtilo says some gun dealers are stockpiling handguns without the internal trigger locks.

 

[echo3mike]

Since I'm not really into handguns, I need to ask a stupid question: does this relate only to new handguns, or are used handguns effected as well?


S.

 

[JBP]

They can't be too upset based on the prices they were charging at the gun show I went to last Saturday. Definitely no inventories were seriously reduced by the lack of buying I saw. MY FFL figures that there is about 2-3 years worth of inventory around before the new law has any affect on purchases. Hopefully this is one of the laws the Gov. elect Erlich will consider useless and try to have changed.

 

[Cliff]

This will only apply to pistols manufactured after January 1st,2003. Anything sitting on the shelves as of December 31st,2002 and for sometime afterward will be good to go.
And yeah, I hope our new gov.elect will do something about Marylands asinine gun laws. Lets hope.