Debate

Recently, I returned home from a three-week stay in Guanajuato, Mexico. I lived with a gracious Mexican family, took Spanish classes and had the chance to immerse myself in Mexican culture. Mexican society was beautiful and vibrant - full of ideas, art and religion. Needless to say, the crude stereotypes of drug cartels and kidnappings were hardly relevant or applicable to my experience, or the experience of anyone I met. As my trip wound down, I said to my host parents, " Por favor, vengan a visitar a mi familia en los Estados Unidos!"

The increasingly high-profile public debate over gun rights highlights a lot of the follies in the arguments from all sides on a range of charged political issues. Predictably, Harford County's contingent in Annapolis is decidedly against proposals by the administration of Gov. Martin O'Malley to enact more strict regulations on gun sales and ownership. A civil right well-established in the traditions of the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights is at stake. Equally predictably, the side advocating for stricter gun regulations has concluded that the increasing regularity of mass shooting incidents, particularly those at schools, cry out for action.

The first caller told Norman Breidenbaugh he had won $2.5 million in a foreign sweepstakes, but there was a catch: Breidenbaugh needed to send $2,000 in fees before collecting his earnings. Other calls followed, promising Breidenbaugh millions more - even a Mercedes Benz - as long as he would wire some money to pay taxes on the prizes. He obliged, sending more than $400,000 over about six years, hoping the promised winnings would cover his wife's medical expenses. The prizes never came.

As one who came to America from a socialist country at the age of 18, I find it terrifying that elected officials would challenge the legitimacy of rights granted by our Constitution. When I moved here those many years ago, I was promised my freedom by a Bill of Rights unlike any document ever written previously. It was a liberating experience. Yet today, I once again feel threatened and intimidated by my government. I implore our elected officials to put emotion aside and ponder the consequences of restricting people's right to own guns.

Federal deficits are too large, and mounting national debt threatens future generations. But as Democrats and Republicans squabble over the mandatory spending cuts known as sequestration that went into effect Friday night, they are failing to face the facts of our budget situation or acknowledge the lessons of history. Since 2007, annual federal spending is up $1 trillion, and deficits jumped from $161 billion to $1.2 trillion over five years. Higher taxes on the wealthy and Obamacare levies will pull down the gap in 2014, but then it will rise again.

Maryland's Senate opened Thursday with an early session on gun-control that could yield a final vote for the chamber on a bill that would ban the sale of assault-style rifles, keep guns away from some people with mental illnesses and require a license to buy a handgun. Baltimore Sen. Nathaniel McFadden said the need for stricter gun laws transcends the Newtown shooting massacre, which killed 26 people and sparked national calls for more gun control. "We don't have our Newtowns or Columbines in our neighborhood," McFadden said, adding that Baltimore instead lives with gun violence every day. "You can get a gun quicker than you can get an apple or an orange in my community.

The Maryland Senate approved a sweeping gun-control bill Thursday that would give the state one of the strictest firearm laws in the country. The contentious issue moved immediately to the House of Delegates, where the chamber's first public hearing on the bill and a rally by supporters are expected to draw thousands to Annapolis on Friday. The Senate's 28-19 vote in support of Gov. Martin O'Malley's bill came after more than 12 hours of often-emotional debate Wednesday and Thursday.

It was a headline that had me shaking my head: "Helmet bill gets objections from bike advocates. " Really? Was there a modifier misplaced or a participle left dangling somewhere? How can anyone object to something that could prevent serious injuries and even save lives? What's the problem with a law that would require a person riding a bike to wear a helmet? An advocate for cycling certainly doesn't want bikes to resemble cigarette packs with warnings like "Riding this thing could kill you. " But let's be honest.

Maryland senators alternatively questioned, challenged and heralded Gov. Martin O'Malley's gun-control bill for more than two hours Tuesday, a prelude to a debate expected to stretch through the week as lawmakers wrestle over whether to enact some of the country's strictest gun laws. Senators argued at length over whether to require a license to buy a handgun - a provision gun-control experts consider essential to stemming gun violence in Maryland but that opponents find unfair. While proponents say requiring fingerprints and training for a license makes it less likely someone would buy a gun only to pass it off to a criminal, Sen. E.J. Pipkin called licensing “a solution to a problem that doesn't exist in Maryland.” Pipkin, an Eastern Shore Republican, discounted research by a Johns Hopkins policy expert on whom Democratic leaders on gun control have relied.

Key provisions of Gov. Martin O'Malley's sweeping gun-control plan face renewed battles in the Maryland Senate next week, while the House of Delegates launches hearings expected to be just as contentious as those that brought thousands of people to Annapolis this month. Lawmakers are again bracing for crowds as each chamber presses forward with O'Malley's proposal, which would give Maryland some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. The governor is scheduled to appear at a Friday rally for his bill.