MD: Purtilo mugging for the spotlight again

[Norton]

Here we go again.....Jim must be feeling lonely and needed his name back out in the press. I wish the press would stop going to this guy as the "voice of MD gun owners" because, frankly, he is speaking for less and less of us.

This kind of nonsense will hurt our position when we have to go to Annapolis again this year and Jim, for all of his posturing, will probably fail to show up once again.

Have guns, won't travel


Laura Vozzella
A gun-owners group says Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. hasn't danced with the ones who brung him. So now, they're staying home.

Members of Marylanders for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership have been boycotting political fundraisers headlined by administration officials.

"In response to your kind invitation to the 8 November event with Lt. Gov. Steele, we send regrets and our hope that you will not misinterpret our absence," PAC Chairman Jim Norris recently wrote to Sen. Andy Harris, a Republican who represents Baltimore and Harford counties.

"Senator, you have been great on our issues," the letter continues. "Unfortunately an event headlined by anyone from Bob Ehrlich's administration is politically worthless to MPFO. We can't risk having our support of your event be interpreted as approval of inappropriate firearms policies promoted by the administration."

Ehrlich spokeswoman Shareese DeLeaver declined to comment.

Jim Purtilo, who publishes the Maryland gun-rights newsletter Tripwire, said gun owners who supported Ehrlich's election didn't expect him to change state firearms laws. But Purtilo said they did think the gov would do some "administrative stuff" to loosen restrictions - such as making it easier for Marylanders to get permits to carry handguns.

Does that kind of complaint actually hurt the re-election chances of a Republican governor in a heavily Democratic state? Purtilo thinks so.

"They've transformed gun owners who would have voted single-issue into free agents," he says.

 

[K-Romulus]

alternative to Purtillo?

Purtillo has been around so long, and makes so much noise, so he gets to be the "Self-appointed" speaker for us in MD. Maybe we should get some press releases out, or publish our own newsletters/blogs . . . but the problem is that Purtillo seems to have an "in" with MD behind-the-scenes politics, which makes his comments seem to be "the word on the street" in MD.

I've so far been 4-0 with my letters to the DC Examiner on MD firearms issues. Maybe if enough of us write in to various papers often enough, we can get the word out that there are other personalities in this state?

Purtillo's hyperbole in his newsletters kills me . . . even Nancy Jacobs thinks he goes off the deep end.

 

[Norton]

He is off the deep end. The Ehrlich folks and he apparently don't play kissy kissy so he'll do what he always does, enact his scorched Earth policy.

Same as last year when there were some other activists getting press time.....he started launching personal attacks against fellow gun owners who, unlike Jim, took time from their jobs to come to Annapolis to testify before the legislature.

 

[DelayedReaction]

Jim Purtilo definitely doesn't speak for all Maryland gun owners. I bought my first firearm in December, and two months later I was in Annapolis supporting the right of our citizens to defend themselves. I met many amazing and wonderful people, had my eyes opened to exactly what we're up against (Neil Quinter taught me more about gun control than any pamphlet ever could), and never once saw Jim Purtilo there.

I'm tempted to just see if I can meet with Mr. Purtilo sometime and get a better idea of exactly who he is and what he stands for. If we don't support Lt. Gov. Steele in his bid for the US Senate, exactly who should we support?

 

[chaim]

I can understand the frustration that Ehrlich isn't doing enough. I feel that way myself sometimes. Sure, no one expected him to get firearms legislation through the state legislature. No one expected him to expend political capital to strongly and publically oppose anything new (would cost too much in MD). Simply his not being in the gun control corner of the ring is a major win. Still, it would have been nicer to see some progress in areas where regulations out of the executive branch could have been lightened (like loosening criteria for CCW permits). But what is our alternative? So, I opposed the hard line Purtilo is taking (it will take a few years of incremental progress in MD, nothing will happen overnight).

Maybe if enough of us write in to various papers often enough, we can get the word out that there are other personalities in this state?

I agree. I nominate Norton and Girlwithagun to be our spokespeople. Norton as an English teacher should be pretty articulate, and would show that those of us in teaching and the "helping professions" aren't always left-wing wackos. Girlwithagun, well, a young, innocent looking, mother- how much more "all-American" can you get- she'd put the lie to the "guns=red neck trash" stereotype in an instant.

There's also a gent who works behind the scenes (he was instrumental in getting Ehrlich a lot of support in the Jewish community). He is fairly big in the Balt area MD Republican party and an avid shooter, but he doesn't post here (I don't think he uses the internet)- Rabbi Goldberg would be great- articulate, used to public speaking (he is a rabbi), religious, Jewish (fighting the stereotypes more), politically connected, and clergy. What more could we want?

 

[Spot77]

Purtilo likes to talk about "the big picture" if I recall correctly, but he fails to see or recognize the "big picture" regarding the options of a first term Republican Governor in the state of Md (the first in over 30 years).

Of course the Republican party isn't going to mortgage its future in MD by putting ANY of its eggs in the gun rights basket.

While I don't like this policy obviously, it does make sense "for the party". Gun owners haven't been an effective influence or a major voting bloc in MD in the past.


Attacking somebody who is not your enemy simply because they're not your friend only empowers your enemies.

I understand Jim's frustration, but I'll never agree with his antics.