DD214
Founder
[imgc]msi.gif[/imgc] PICK UP THE PHONE!
The Hearings on March 8th went very well. The committee members were friendly and treated us quite well. We were not rushed or hushed as in previous years. The tough and antagonistic questions were all pointed at the gun-control folks (two from Ceasefire, and two from Coalition to Stop Handgun Violence). There were no antagonistic questions to those testifying on our side. The gun-control side had the same 4 people testifying (often caught in lies and exaggerations) on each bill while we had 40 individuals each of whom took a day off work to be there ... each testifying for the bills most important to them personally.
There was some good-natured humor when HB 1162 was introduced. HB 1162 would allow women (only) to have shall-issue CCW, while leaving the current system in place for men. We haven't pushed it because it is a bit tongue-in-cheek. No doubt it would be found to be discriminatory and unconstitutional. The reason for it is to make the legislators think. That seemed to work. Ray Givens testified in favor of the bill. He said he wanted his wife, daughter and mother to be able to defend themselves when he couldn't defend them. He then said: and then they can defend me. The committee members all laughed ... but with us, not at us. They got it.
We had a very good effect. There was a noticeable shift towards our side by the committee as a whole and by several of the legislators that have not committed to a particular side already. The committee as a whole seemed to clearly understand that the pro-gun side is larger, more honest, and more correct than the gun-control lobbyists.
However, privately, one of the legislators said they'd gotten 500 emails in support of the Assault Weapons Ban. I can't believe there are 500 people in Maryland who are in favor of the AWB and care enough to actually send an email.
Our numbers of people who care about preserving and furthering gun rights are far higher than those for gun control. That's very clear when nearly 40 pro-gun *individuals* show up for the hearings but only 4 gun control people (at least 3 of them paid lobbyists) show up at the hearings. If we can't generate as many emails and phone calls as they can ... then shame on us ... we deserve to lose.
For those of you who have written, called, and/or emailed... thanks very much! Your efforts have made a difference. The hearings were far more relaxed and pro-gun than previous years. However, I don't think we've generated 500 emails in favor of our self-defense rights yet. We should be able to generate 5000. Have you done your part?
For those of you who have not yet written, called and emailed... SHAME ON YOU! We have 3 business days left to have sufficient effect to get through the bottleneck of the Judiciary committee. The committee vote should take place next Thursday morning. The future is uncertain. We have our best shot at maintaining and furthering gun rights NOW.... in the next three days. Over the weekend you can't call, but you can email. Monday through Wednesday you need to call each one of these 9 just once. You can do it on your lunch break. If your dialing fingers are all broken you can dial 411 with your nose and have the operator complete the call for you. I would sure hate to have it on my conscience next year with an anti-gun Democrat as Governor saying to myself ... yeah, I could've called, but I didn't think it would make a difference.
It will make a difference. Five of those below have shown a clear shift towards our side. We need to generate enough calls to get them enough over to our side that they will want to vote FOR self-defense. We can do that ... but only if YOU care enough to pick up the phone.
Please support the following bills:
HB-12 (Repeal Ballistic Fingerprinting),
HB-14 (Repeal Integral lock requirement),
HB-529 (MD Constitutional Amendment - Declaration of Right to Keep and Bear Arms),
HB-1163 (Maryland Shall Issue CCW),
HB-1382 (CCW Reciprocity with other states),
Phone calls:
1-800-492-7122 + extension or 1-410-841-.ext
Del. Anderson ext. 3291
Del. Brown ext. 3707
Del. Carter ext. 3283
Del. Dumais ext. 3052
Del. Kelley ext. 3212
Del. Petzold ext. 3001
Del. Simmons ext. 3037
Del. (Chairman) Vallario ext. 3488
Del. Zirkin ext. 3342
e-mails: curt.anderson@house.state.md.us, anthony.brown@house.state.md.us, jill.carter@house.state.md.us, kathleen.dumais@house.state.md.us, darryl.kelley@house.state.md.us, carol.petzold@house.state.md.us, luiz.simmons@house.state.md.us, bobby.zirkin@house.state.md.us
(Chairman Vallario does not use email)
- Henry Heymering, President
Maryland Shall Issue, Inc.
P.O. Box 314
Libertytown, MD 21762
240-446-6782
http://www.marylandshallissue.org
henry@marylandshallissue.org
The Hearings on March 8th went very well. The committee members were friendly and treated us quite well. We were not rushed or hushed as in previous years. The tough and antagonistic questions were all pointed at the gun-control folks (two from Ceasefire, and two from Coalition to Stop Handgun Violence). There were no antagonistic questions to those testifying on our side. The gun-control side had the same 4 people testifying (often caught in lies and exaggerations) on each bill while we had 40 individuals each of whom took a day off work to be there ... each testifying for the bills most important to them personally.
There was some good-natured humor when HB 1162 was introduced. HB 1162 would allow women (only) to have shall-issue CCW, while leaving the current system in place for men. We haven't pushed it because it is a bit tongue-in-cheek. No doubt it would be found to be discriminatory and unconstitutional. The reason for it is to make the legislators think. That seemed to work. Ray Givens testified in favor of the bill. He said he wanted his wife, daughter and mother to be able to defend themselves when he couldn't defend them. He then said: and then they can defend me. The committee members all laughed ... but with us, not at us. They got it.
We had a very good effect. There was a noticeable shift towards our side by the committee as a whole and by several of the legislators that have not committed to a particular side already. The committee as a whole seemed to clearly understand that the pro-gun side is larger, more honest, and more correct than the gun-control lobbyists.
However, privately, one of the legislators said they'd gotten 500 emails in support of the Assault Weapons Ban. I can't believe there are 500 people in Maryland who are in favor of the AWB and care enough to actually send an email.
Our numbers of people who care about preserving and furthering gun rights are far higher than those for gun control. That's very clear when nearly 40 pro-gun *individuals* show up for the hearings but only 4 gun control people (at least 3 of them paid lobbyists) show up at the hearings. If we can't generate as many emails and phone calls as they can ... then shame on us ... we deserve to lose.
For those of you who have written, called, and/or emailed... thanks very much! Your efforts have made a difference. The hearings were far more relaxed and pro-gun than previous years. However, I don't think we've generated 500 emails in favor of our self-defense rights yet. We should be able to generate 5000. Have you done your part?
For those of you who have not yet written, called and emailed... SHAME ON YOU! We have 3 business days left to have sufficient effect to get through the bottleneck of the Judiciary committee. The committee vote should take place next Thursday morning. The future is uncertain. We have our best shot at maintaining and furthering gun rights NOW.... in the next three days. Over the weekend you can't call, but you can email. Monday through Wednesday you need to call each one of these 9 just once. You can do it on your lunch break. If your dialing fingers are all broken you can dial 411 with your nose and have the operator complete the call for you. I would sure hate to have it on my conscience next year with an anti-gun Democrat as Governor saying to myself ... yeah, I could've called, but I didn't think it would make a difference.
It will make a difference. Five of those below have shown a clear shift towards our side. We need to generate enough calls to get them enough over to our side that they will want to vote FOR self-defense. We can do that ... but only if YOU care enough to pick up the phone.
Please support the following bills:
HB-12 (Repeal Ballistic Fingerprinting),
HB-14 (Repeal Integral lock requirement),
HB-529 (MD Constitutional Amendment - Declaration of Right to Keep and Bear Arms),
HB-1163 (Maryland Shall Issue CCW),
HB-1382 (CCW Reciprocity with other states),
Phone calls:
1-800-492-7122 + extension or 1-410-841-.ext
Del. Anderson ext. 3291
Del. Brown ext. 3707
Del. Carter ext. 3283
Del. Dumais ext. 3052
Del. Kelley ext. 3212
Del. Petzold ext. 3001
Del. Simmons ext. 3037
Del. (Chairman) Vallario ext. 3488
Del. Zirkin ext. 3342
e-mails: curt.anderson@house.state.md.us, anthony.brown@house.state.md.us, jill.carter@house.state.md.us, kathleen.dumais@house.state.md.us, darryl.kelley@house.state.md.us, carol.petzold@house.state.md.us, luiz.simmons@house.state.md.us, bobby.zirkin@house.state.md.us
(Chairman Vallario does not use email)
- Henry Heymering, President
Maryland Shall Issue, Inc.
P.O. Box 314
Libertytown, MD 21762
240-446-6782
http://www.marylandshallissue.org
henry@marylandshallissue.org
