Gun Ownership

The Maryland House passed the Firearm Safety Act of 2013 by a vote of 78 to 61 ("House passes gun control," April 4). The bill bans the sale or transfer of semiautomatic rifles and limits magazine capacity. Once signed by the governor, the law goes into effect on October 1. There are only seven states in America that have any restrictions on magazine capacity. Gun owners are free to purchase 100-round magazines in any of the other 43 states that respect gun rights. Those opposed to gun ownership know that gun owners will become politically active if they call for total bans on all firearms.

Washington. Two staggering facts about today's America are the carnage that is a consequence of virtually uncontrolled private ownership of guns, and Americans' toleration of that carnage.Class, not racial, bias explains toleration of scandals such as this: More teen-age males die from gun-fire than from all natural causes combined, and a black male teen-ager is 11 times more likely than a white counterpart to be killed by a bullet.If sons of the confident, assertive, articulate middle class, regardless of race, were dying in such epidemic numbers, gun control would be considered a national imperative.

I would like to challenge several points made by Ron Smith in his column about gun ownership and gun control laws ( "Face the facts: Gun control laws don't save lives," Jan. 20). He disparages several "Democratic bastions" as being unrealistic as far as their attitude toward gun ownership and gun control laws. However statistics show that states with higher gun ownership and weak gun laws lead the nation in gun deaths rates per 100,000 people. For example Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi and Nevada have household gun ownership rates from 31.5 percent to 60.6 percent and gun death rates of 16.25 per 100,000 to 19.58 per 100,000.

Bowing to pressure from some fellow Democrats in the legislature, Gov. Martin O'Malley has signaled a willingness to compromise on at least one element in the package of new gun restrictions he proposed in the aftermath of last year's school shooting in Newtown, Conn. And in a surprise, given the massive lobbying effort against his bill, the change actually makes it better. Aides now say the governor will support a provision to keep guns out of the hands of mentally ill people that is even tougher than one presently on the books.

Terrorism, whether practiced in the U.S. or overseas, can be defined as a deliberate act of violence to instill fear in a target audience. We fight terrorism when we stay calm but resolute; we abet terrorists when our response is to panic or try to foment panic in others. This past weekend, the CEO of the National Rifle Association stood up on a stage in Houston and chose to follow the latter route, linking the recent bombings in Boston with gun ownership - or a lack thereof. "How many Bostonians," the NRA's Wayne LaPierre asked, "wish they had a gun two weeks ago?"

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.

In his letter opposing reasonable gun control, Doug McNeil asserts that the government cannot require a license or fingerprints as a condition of gun ownership because gun ownership is a constitutional right ("Gun licensing won't reduce crime," March 3). But both requirements are routinely imposed on the exercise of other constitutional rights. The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed that marriage is a fundamental right. Yet, as everyone who has ever been married in this country knows, every state requires that couples obtain a marriage license before they can marry.

I wasn't surprised to see letters to the editor about last week's column from people who cling to their heartfelt notion that if we just had more sensible gun control laws, the assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords that resulted in six deaths earlier this month might not have happened. My comments on the rush to condemn Sarah Palin and conservative commentators for somehow encouraging the alleged gunman by fostering a "climate of hate" made no mention of the gun issue.

While gun rights advocates are understandably pleased about the Supreme Court's decision this week to overturn Chicago's ban on private citizens keeping handguns in their homes, it's far from clear how far this ruling pushes current law. Certainly, it's no surprise in light of the court's decision to strike down a similar Washington, D.C. prohibition on gun ownership two years ago. In essence, the court's conservative majority has merely chosen...

I grew up with guns in my house. There are guns in my house. I understand the sport of the shooting range and the sport of hunting. I understand the argument, while not finding it convincing, that guns in the home protect you. What I do not understand is any argument for assault weapons in private hands. Assault weapons were created to kill people - just as one did so effectively in the hands of a 20-year-old at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Now is the time to have a reasoned discussion of gun ownership and of gun control.