Handgun

The mother of a 3-year-old East Baltimore boy who fatally shot himself with his father's handgun cannot collect damages under Maryland's product liability law because his father had improperly stored the weapon under a mattress, the Court of Special Appeals ruled yesterday. Affirming an October 1999 decision by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Evelyn Omega Cannon, the state's second-highest court rejected claims that the handgun 3-year-old Jordan Garris accidentally fired in 1999 was defective because it did not have a trigger lock.

Maryland's restrictions on carrying a handgun outside the home have been among the strongest in the nation - and for good reason, given the death and destruction perpetrated by those possessing handguns in this state. So it is regrettable that the standard is now under threat because a federal judge, emboldened by a pair of recent Supreme Court decisions that have expanded the reach of the Second Amendment, has found a portion of the law unconstitutional. Make no mistake, U.S. District Court Judge Benson Everett Legg is pushing the Second Amendment envelope in his 23-page opinion that an existing restriction on handgun carry permits - that the applicant must show a "good and substantial reason" to have one - infringes on the individual's right to keep and bear arms.

Parents who read help their kids to readHandgun Abuse.

A woman taken into custody after Tuesday's shooting in a room at the city-owned Hilton Convention Center hotel was charged with attempted first-degree murder after she would not explain to detectives how a struggle over a handgun resulted in her boyfriend being shot. Police identified the suspect as Sharolyn L. Yarbrough, 34. Police said the .40-caliber handgun, which has a pink grip, is registered in her name. According to court records, the incident — the most recent in a series of fights between the couple — was sparked over a cell phone.

A bit more than four years ago, Michael Soe, 14, replaced the loaded magazine in his father's Beretta 92 Compact L handgun with an empty one and pointed the gun at his friend, Kenzo Dix, 15.As Kenzo fired a pellet gun at birds out of Michael's bedroom window in Berkeley, Calif., Michael pulled the trigger, expecting to hear a click. Instead, he heard an explosion that would reverberate more than 3,000 miles to Beretta USA's Accokeek, Md., headquarters.Kenzo Dix died, the victim of an undetected bullet in the gun's firing chamber.

A 37-year-old Lutherville woman pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree murder in the death a year ago of a man with whom she was romantically involved, authorities in Baltimore County said. Keri Lynne Schneider also pleaded guilty to using a handgun to kill Timothy Paul Lekin, 35, of Timonium. Lekin's body was found Nov. 26, 2008, inside his parked BMW on Sparks Valley Road. Prosecutors said they will recommend that Circuit Judge H. Patrick Stringer sentence Schneider to life imprisonment on the murder count and 20 years, to run concurrently, on the handgun count.

A Severn man was arrested on a weapons charge Monday after his car was stopped by a police officer, authorities said.Officer Karl Strohminger stopped the 1995 Pontiac Bonneville about 2:20 p.m. at Ritchie Highway and Sixth Avenue after an anonymous caller told police a woman had stuck her leg out the door while the car was moving, county police said.Officer Strohminger learned through a computer check that the driver didn't have a Maryland license. When the driver opened the trunk to show the patrolman his registration, Officer Strohminger saw the butt of a handgun, police said.

Tom Hammonds, a reserve forward for the Washington Bullets, was charged yesterday with transporting a handgun after a state trooper stopped his car to give him a speeding ticket.Hammonds, 23, of Columbia, was stopped at 9:45 a.m. on Route 32 and charged with driving his 1989 Ford four-wheel drive vehicle at 72 miles in a 55 mph zone.Trooper Barry D. Garver said he spotted a handgun on the center console inside the car, and a subsequent search turned up 60 rounds of ammunition in the glove compartment.

A 17-year-old student was arrested and charged as an adult with handgun violations Friday, accused of bringing a weapon to Meade High School in Fort Meade to scare a classmate, Anne Arundel County police said. Christopher Daniel Masson of the 1400 block of Gesna Drive in Hanover was charged with four misdemeanor counts: possession of a handgun, possession of a handgun on school property, obliterating a serial number on a handgun, and possession of a handgun with an obliterated serial number.

This letter is in response to your editorial "Awash in illicit guns" (Oct. 6). Everyone agrees that illegal firearms are a problem. However, to blame other states and give a free pass to the Maryland General Assembly is ridiculous. There are two common sense gun laws the Maryland General Assembly could pass to punish those that possess illegal weapons. Number One: Enact a "shall issue" concealed carry law that allows lawful citizens to carry a handgun without the need to show good cause to the Maryland State Police.