Walter Baker

This General Assembly session's first showdown on handgun-control begins tomorrow in a House committee, which is hearing arguments on a slew of gun bills even as advocacy groups and the governor's office continue negotiations on finding common ground.Handgun-control organizations believe that two Democratic delegates hold the key in the House Judiciary Committee -- Del. Mary Louise Preis of Harford County and Del. Gerry Brewster of Baltimore County. In both cases, the delegates come from districts that strongly endorsed handgun control in the 1988 referendum.

Pssst. Wanna buy a gun? Without any State Polic background check? Without any seven-day waiting period?Easy. Here is what you need to do: Attend one of the estimated 40 gun shows held each year in Maryland and buy an arsenal-full of weapons, if you wish, from a private collector at the show. You avoid all the government red tape, all the fees and all the snooping policemen. You evade all the gun-control laws and purchase as many guns as you want -- for immediate use, without any questions asked.

Is Maryland's Senate president playing a slick game of hide-and-seek with handgun control supporters? Is he forming a subtle alliance with an anti-gun control senator so that all handgun measures will die in committee this session?That's the way it looks, judging from the actions of President Thomas V. Mike Miller of Prince George's County. After mouthing favorable words about bringing a gun-control measure to a vote on the Senate floor, Mr. Miller has reversed course: He's lining up with Sen. Walter Baker, the powerful committee chairman who has vowed to kill every gun-restriction bill that comes before him.Mr.

A month ago, attempts by the Schaefer administration to improve child-support collections were dealt an apparent fatal blow in a House committee. But as sometimes happens, those proposals have now been resurrected by a Senate panel in a new format that might well meet with House approval.The matter is serious enough that delegates on the House Judiciary Committee ought to give the omnibus Senate child-support bill careful consideration. The House committee acted in haste when it quickly quashed much of the administration's child-support package a month ago. Now it gets a second chance to look at an appealing new approach aimed at improving the collection of a half-billion dollars in overdue child-support payments.

Five hours of hearings on the abortion issue yesterday changed no minds. The subject is well known to all 188 members of the General Assembly. Every delegate and senator has taken a position. In 1991, unlike 1990, legislative leaders have made it clear the matter will be voted upon in both the House and the Senate.Pro-abortion advocates have the upper hand. A majority of lawmakers seems committed to giving women the same right to an abortion in the initial stages of pregnancy that the Supreme Court stipulated in its Roe vs. Wade decision.

ANNAPOLIS -- The California car bill ran out of gas in Maryland today.Sen. Walter M. Baker said he will not hold another vote on a bill that would require cars sold in Maryland to meet California's stringent tailpipe emission standards.His decision effectively kills the legislation, which already has died once in his committee but will have to be considered again if the House of Delegates approves the bill."We don't need to do it this year," said Mr. Baker, a Cecil County Democrat.However, the Schaefer administration, which had pushed for the California emissions as part of its legislative package this year, said it will not concede defeat until someone from the office speaks with Mr. Baker.

Four companies with local factories here will be honored tonight for their contributions to the manufacturing industry. The Regional Manufacturing Institute will honor McCormick and Co. Inc., Unilever, Dap Inc. and Northrop Grumman Corp. The World Trade Center Institute, an association of more than 300 world trade centers around the world that promotes economic development and international trade, will also be recognized at the event at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. The companies and the institute are being honored for their participation in the Inside Series, a program in which companies invite other manufacturers to their facilities and talk about how they succeeded.

Harford residents will not be allowed to pay their property taxes, water or sewer bills with a credit card.The County Council voted 6-0 last Tuesday to reject a resolution that would have allowed the credit card payments, saying it didn't want Harford "to get into the credit card business."Some council members also said they were concerned that the bank would get the payments before the county did, delaying the county's receipt of payment.Such payments are allowed under a new state law sponsored by state Sen. William H. Amoss, D-Harford, and Sen. Walter M. Baker, D-Cecil County, but on the condition that the jurisdiction passes specific legislation.

Governor names Baker to Cecil County district judgeshipGov. Parris N. Glendening appointed Stephen James Baker, 42, an Elkton lawyer and son of state Sen. Walter M. Baker, to a judgeship on the Cecil County District Court yesterday.The appointment followed an unusual piece of Annapolis drama last week when Baker, a Democrat, abstained from voting on legislation that would help the state collect billions of dollars from the tobacco industry.He did so after rumors surfaced that he had agreed to back the legislation in exchange for a commitment by Glendening to appoint his son and his law partner in Elkton to judgeships.

A first-term state senator from the Eastern Shore has scheduled appearances across the state Monday to announce his decision to run against U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski next year. Republican Sen. E.J. Pipkin, who rose to prominence after defeating a veteran committee chairman last year, declined to comment on the scheduled appearances, including one at Waters Edge Park in Dundalk at 11 a.m. Pipkin's decision to run drew praise from State GOP Chairman John Kane. "We're really excited that Senator Pipkin is running," Kane said.