Gun Manufacturers

If, as reported in The Sun, Maryland's gun manufacturers decide to leave the state to go to Texas ("Several states woo Md. gun makers," March 10), perhaps Texas will leave the Union and Maryland can develop an industry making something healthier than toaster pastries for kids' free breakfasts. Judy Rhoades, Baltimore Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Despite Beretta's threats that the company would leave Maryland if new gun laws were passed and signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley, Beretta USA has no current plans to abandon its headquarters in Prince George's County.  In a statement sent to The Baltimore Sun Monday, Beretta USA board member and general counsel Jeffrey K. Reh said the company would not let the new law interfere with completing its contract to supply the U.S. Army with pistols....

As Maryland contemplates passing one of the nation's strictest gun laws, at least seven other states have courted its gun manufacturers, offering tax incentives and open arms elsewhere. The governor of Texas, West Virginia's House speaker and an Illinois congressman have written to Beretta USA officials, inviting a move and promising a better business climate if the 400-year-old Italian company chooses to abandon its U.S. headquarters on the Potomac. Another arms manufacturer and defense contractor on the Eastern Shore, LWRC International, received offers, some including tax incentives, from elected or government officials in Nebraska, Mississippi, North Dakota, Nevada, Texas and West Virginia, a company executive said.

As the Boston Marathon bombing case reminds us, we are potentially all under constant surveillance when we walk down the streets of an American city. Our public movements are videotaped, who we interact with is observed, and our cell phone calls readily traced. We accept these gross incursions on our civil liberties because, well, look what they've done! We got the bad guys! And, as testified to by the deliriously cheering crowds in Watertown who had been ordered to stay locked in their homes for the day, the loss of liberty and freedom entailed was well worth the price.

WASHINGTON - In a sign of the changing political calculus of gun control, the Senate appears poised to pass a top priority of the National Rifle Association this week, legislation that would shield the gun industry from lawsuits arising from the misuse of their weapons. Gun manufacturers have pressed for years for such a law, arguing that it is needed to protect them from lawsuits filed by municipalities or individuals that the industry says could bankrupt it. Dozens of such lawsuits are pending.

PHILADELPHIA -- When a city licensing inspector died Friday after being shot in the head by an unidentified robber, Mayor Ed Rendell declared the killing a tragedy. But the mayor also labeled the shooting something else: potential evidence for a civil lawsuit.Rendell is considering whether to file, on behalf of the city of Philadelphia, a first-of-its-kind legal challenge to the nation's nearly four dozen gun manufacturers. Modeled on the states' legal attack against tobacco companies, the suit would argue that gunmakers have created a "public nuisance" by intentionally saturating urban areas with more handguns than they can reasonably expect to sell to law-abiding purchasers, according to legal drafts obtained by The Sun.No state or local government has ever pursued such a claim against gunmakers, but legal experts say -- and manufacturers worry -- that if Philadelphia decides to file its suit, it could touch off a wave of litigation across the country.

Saying they want reform, not money, NAACP leaders filed a lawsuit yesterday demanding that nearly 100 gun manufacturers change the way they do business.The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., is hotly contested by America's powerful gun lobby because the changes would limit handgun sales and prohibit distributors from selling certain weapons to gun show dealers.Large firearms manufacturers such as Smith & Wesson, Remington and Glock Inc. are accused in the lawsuit of contributing, through negligence, to handgun-related deaths.

A joint session of two key House committees tweaked parts of Gov. Martin O'Malley's sweeping gun bill during the first five hours of a debate expected to last into the evening. The changes - which left intact the central provisions of handgun licensing and a ban on the sale of assault weapons - were made in the first public action since February on the legislation. The bill also limits magazines to ten bullets and addresses when people with mental illness can buy guns. Over the past month since the Senate passed the bill, lawmakers have been debating behind-the-scenes whether to scale back the ban on assault rifles to exclude some models, including the AR-15.

Your recent editorial expressed outrage at the National Rifle Association's ridiculous claim that the answer to the Newtown school shooting is more guns in schools ("NRA to America: Blame yourself, not us," Dec. 21). But what position did you expect the NRA to take? The NRA does not represent gun safety advocates, nor does it represent gun owners. It is a trade association largely funded by gun manufacturers and its sole mission is to promote gun sales and increase profits for those manufacturers.

TEQUESTA, Fla. -- Shares of Saf T Lok Inc. rose 52 percent, soaring for a second day, after major gun manufacturers agreed to include a child safety lock with every handgun sold.The surge in the Tequesta, Fla., gun lock maker's shares came despite comments from some gun producers that they do not plan to use Saf T Lok products.Saf T Lok shares rose $1.5625 to $4.5625 after getting as high as $5.75 on volume of 18.4 million shares, making it the second most active stock in U.S. trading. The company has 6.19 million shares outstanding.

We know that a cigar is generally just a cigar, but the same cannot be said about a gun. For some, a gun is a fetish item protected by the Second Amendment while for others it is simply an extension of manhood. A gun is a lethal weapon which many citizens own and use in a responsible manner. Does the NRA really wish to arm dangerous and erratic people? One would think that the NRA would support responsible gun control legislation. Why would anyone be afraid of gun registration? Clearly, this is the only way to control the proliferation of dangerous weapons.

A joint session of two key House committees tweaked parts of Gov. Martin O'Malley's sweeping gun bill during the first five hours of a debate expected to last into the evening. The changes - which left intact the central provisions of handgun licensing and a ban on the sale of assault weapons - were made in the first public action since February on the legislation. The bill also limits magazines to ten bullets and addresses when people with mental illness can buy guns. Over the past month since the Senate passed the bill, lawmakers have been debating behind-the-scenes whether to scale back the ban on assault rifles to exclude some models, including the AR-15.

Four weeks after Gov. Martin O'Malley's gun-control bill passed the Senate, a key House committee has yet to schedule a vote and continues to debate whether to scale it back. Among the possible changes still on the table: whether to take the AR-15 and a few other assault-style rifles off the list of guns whose sale would be banned. "We're still ruminating," said Del. Kathleen Dumais, vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee and a Democrat from Montgomery County. About a half-dozen lawmakers have been meeting once or twice a week behind closed doors to determine what changes -- if any -- they want to adopt to on a bill that would give Maryland some of the nation's strictest gun laws.

If, as reported in The Sun, Maryland's gun manufacturers decide to leave the state to go to Texas ("Several states woo Md. gun makers," March 10), perhaps Texas will leave the Union and Maryland can develop an industry making something healthier than toaster pastries for kids' free breakfasts. Judy Rhoades, Baltimore Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

As Maryland contemplates passing one of the nation's strictest gun laws, at least seven other states have courted its gun manufacturers, offering tax incentives and open arms elsewhere. The governor of Texas, West Virginia's House speaker and an Illinois congressman have written to Beretta USA officials, inviting a move and promising a better business climate if the 400-year-old Italian company chooses to abandon its U.S. headquarters on the Potomac. Another arms manufacturer and defense contractor on the Eastern Shore, LWRC International, received offers, some including tax incentives, from elected or government officials in Nebraska, Mississippi, North Dakota, Nevada, Texas and West Virginia, a company executive said.

Maryland's gun control debate drew more than 2,000 people to Annapolis on Friday as the House of Delegates took up the governor's bill to ban the sale of assault weapons and impose some of the nation's strictest licensing requirements. People arrived as early as 7 a.m., and some stayed into the night as testimony went past 3 a.m. More than 1,300 people signed up to testify at the House hearing on Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal, overwhelmingly against it. A mid morning rally to support the plan drew a crowd that State House officals estimated at 1,000 people.

FIREARMS manufacturers have readily used technology to increase killing power while failing to use it to add safety features to their weapons.That is the complaint of five U.S. cities suing gun makers. The worthwhile legal maneuver appears to be gaining momentum now that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and some members of Congress have joined the call to hold manufacturers legally responsible for the societal damage that firearms inflict.The lawsuits raise several important legal questions.

Four weeks after Gov. Martin O'Malley's gun-control bill passed the Senate, a key House committee has yet to schedule a vote and continues to debate whether to scale it back. Among the possible changes still on the table: whether to take the AR-15 and a few other assault-style rifles off the list of guns whose sale would be banned. "We're still ruminating," said Del. Kathleen Dumais, vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee and a Democrat from Montgomery County. About a half-dozen lawmakers have been meeting once or twice a week behind closed doors to determine what changes -- if any -- they want to adopt to on a bill that would give Maryland some of the nation's strictest gun laws.

Richard Vatz takes us on a meandering journey in his op-ed "Who will be our next profiles in courage?" (Jan. 15). He wonders "Where do our current leaders land on the courage criterion? ... Will they recognize, as one of my colleagues puts it, that outrage about the Newtown school shootings doesn't justify policies that cannot possibly stop or minimize such outrages?" It amazes me that leaders in our nation, which is rightfully proud of the contributions and enormous sacrifices made by "the greatest generation" in fighting World War II, go weak-kneed when confronted by the National Rifle Association.

I appreciate the articles the sun has published on both sides of the gun control debate. As a person who has spent all of her adult professional life in elementary education, I hear the National Rifle Association's proposal to put armed guards in schools as a solution that doesn't address the many other shootings that occur elsewhere. Those in education know what is meant by the "hidden curriculum. " It is a side effect of education that is not formally taught but that students pick up from the norms, values and beliefs conveyed by the social environment of the classroom and the school.