Official February 6th day of event thread.

[Tashtego]

Great job, everyone!
"Legislative aides said they had never seen such an outpouring of people seeking to testify on a bill. By an overwhelming number, they were signing up in opposition to the governor's proposal."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-omalley-guns-20130204,0,310518.story

 

[KD999]

My Take On Today (Warning - Long Read)

Ok, so here is my overview of today. I arrived around 8am or so and left around 5pm.

First let me say that this was my first 2A rally and I’m an avid MDS reader so I thought I was prepared for today’s events. Let me say that I was wrong!! I was blown away from the support that we received and I put my estimates of the crowd at 2,000 attendees up to as much as 3,000. That is based on Frosh’s statement that there about 520 people signed up to speak alone and the fact that at one point the Senate Office was filled and simultaneously the rally was packed too.

I was extremely impressed with the overall statement we made with our conduct at the rally and in the hearings. We were very good representatives of the pro 2A crowd with our attire, preparedness and reactions throughout my time there. We clapped when we should have and we groaned when we should have.

I was very encouraged by the arguments that we made, but I came away feeling like many of the committee members had already made up their mind one way or another. I guess I was naïve to think that I would see some committee members appear to be swayed away from their anti 2A stance. Frosh is a given, but Lisa Gladden was smiling and nodding at everything MOM & crew spewed at the onset. She had her mind made up too. I felt taken aback by the two heads of this committe being so obviously anti 2A. I had hoped for some balance.

Nancy Jacobs, although at times factually challenged, was our big champion. However, she was so much so that I think she lost her ability to sway any other members. The committee seemed to treat her like “Crazy Nancy” lol. But I appreciate her enthusiasm and she did bring up some great points. She was definitely our biggest supporter throughout. Muse was interesting because he represented PG and along with Gladden, generally supported the bill; both seemed really concerned that SB281 did nothing to address illegal guns currently on the street and the criminals who possess them. This came up over and over again. They wanted to go back to their constituency with specifics on what would help curb the gun violence that cannot be legislated away with SB281. I don’t think they ever got an answer. Shank or Raskin (can’t remember which) just loved to hear himself talk I think. He took FOREVER to ask EVERY question and sounded like he was double-talking half the time. I think he literally had multiple questions for every person that spoke. He definitely was a factor in why I was there for 4hrs and we only heard about 30-40 people speak.

Ok, now that I sort of set the stage, let me get to the meat of some of the notes that I jotted down. Please forgive the disjointedness because I was really listening first and taking notes as an afterthought. Again, just from 1pm to 4:30pm.

1. The first thing that struck me at the very beginning when the Attorney General was speaking was that Gladden was eating up every word. She smiled and nodded when he stated that had the Perryville shooter had an AR vs. the old shotgun, he would have definitely killed more students.
2. The Attorney General said that the Bushmasters we need to ban are full auto and set off a collective groan by the few hundred people in my overflow room. To me, that set the stage for his “expertise” on the entire issue of SB281. He told a bunch of lies throughout. When questioned on any of his BS, he just restated it and promised to send proof to committee members later.
3. When questioned about the economic burden of SB281, the Attorney General said that people are buying guns that cost $600, so they can certainly afford $400 for licensing and courses that will be required. Big crowd reaction on that one!!! Dumb thing to say. He later said that the cost of proposed licensing is spread over 5 years so you can “prorate” the cost and it isn’t much. That didn’t go over any better. Later he was called out by Shank, I believe, who stated that it isn’t for him to say who can afford what.
   a. Several people spoke on the fact that the financial burden will create two classes of armed and unarmed citizens based on their financial status.
   
4. When specifically asked if this bill addresses full auto firearms or semi, the Attorney General said he didn’t know and deferred to lead counsel (MOMs)!! Again, big laugh from the crowd.
5. The first memorable speaker was also the first citizen speaker. He was the guy from America’s Most Wanted. He has dealt with killers who use firearms, up close and personal – over the past 23 years. He said we should remove everything in SB281 that won’t keep us safe from criminals and leave only the part that affects criminals.
6. Next up was an exec from Berretta who is also their General Counsel. Bottom line is that Berretta will be moving if SB281 passes and they will be taking with them 1) $31MM in annual MD taxes 2) 400 jobs and 3) $73MM in investments into the SoMD community over the next 5 years. He said Berretta is family owned and very loyal (for 500 years they’ve been in same city in Italy), but they will have to leave. Frosh tried to get the guy to say he didn’t have any opinion on the licensing but he didn’t bite. He said he had a problem with that and eloquently stated why. He smacked Frosh pretty good.
7. Frosh made a habit of cutting off Pro 2A speakers with a verbal warning to wrap it up but only gave slight hand signal for the Anti 2A speakers. Overall the Anti 2A crowd got more time during my 4hr span. Frosh literally left for about 45 minutes during the Pro 2A as did Gladden a couple of times too. During Pro 2A speakers of course.
8. Another great speaker was Mr. Blanchard who was LEO, a veteran and former military intelligence employee. He said MD laws are already reasonable but SB 281 is headed towards “crazy”. Memorable quote “We can buy Porsches that go 200mph even though we can only go 55mph, but we don’t dog cars” likening that to blaming guns for their potential misuse and not actual misuse.
9. Mr. Curtis was the most memorable of all the speakers. He started by telling the committee that he and his wife can’t take anymore and have packed up their belonging and are literally on their way out of the state. He talked about being harassed and visited at his home by LEO for buying too much ammo. He talked about how restrictive MD is for buying firearms right now and he is not putting up with any more jumping through hoops. He was funny, honest and said that SB281 is just plain stupid. When he came into my overflow room, someone introduced him and he got a big round of applause. He was the only one that represented the demographic of Marylanders who have given up and is leaving MD, even though many people expressed the same sentiment.
10. After the AG said that our 1A rights are limited, explaining “We can’t yell fire in a theatre”, he stated that people should understand that 2A rights can be limited too. Sen. Jacobs countered, saying that in those cases of 1A limitations we only punish people AFTER they abuse their right to free speech and subesquently break the law while SB281 seeks to punish law-abiding citizens for what MAY happen BEFORE people even cross the line.
11. There was a handicapped gentleman in a wheelchair (from chemotherapy), who was really powerful - saying that all Marylanders should carry a handicapped placard because we are all being handicapped by the State with regard to protecting ourselves. He voiced his wish to not only arm himself with an AR but also to carry a firearm with him. He can neither fight nor flee because of his lack of physical ability. He said he doesn’t want to be a victim, but because of MD’s restrictions, we are all walking targets.
12. The last speaker was very good also and he compared anti and pro gun crowds with the that “For anti gunners, guns that are ugly with certain features are assault weapons but for pro gunners ANY weapon pointing at us is an assault weapon” and “For anti gunners, some guns are dangerous but for pro gunners we realize that ALL guns are dangerous”

Anyhow, I just wanted to share my notes and say that overall, I was very pleased with how we turned out. If none of the committee members were swayed to change their mind and oppose SB281, it’s not because of our lack of effort or logical, well-layed-out arguments. It was because they already had their mind made up and didn’t care what we said.

 

[LoneRanger]

I hit bad traffic on the way and got to the Senate building at 11:30 to register to testify, and got in a creeping never ending "disney world" type line until 3:30 or so when Delegate Don Dwyer announced that those who hadnt made it to the registration desk, would not be able to testify today, and that his office had set up a desk outside where we could enter our support or opposition to the bill and it would be forwarded to the Committee. The building was closed and there was no opportunity to reenter to listen to or watch the hearing.

I hit Starbucks for a venti coffee and walked over to lawyers mall and mingled with fellow patriots, then I took the circulator back to the stadium, home by 5:00.

I was disapointed to take a day off without pay and not even see the inside of the hearing room, or get to hear any of the hearing, or the speechs in lawyers mall, and did not get to testify...but at least my visit and viewpoint was recorded thanks to Delegate Don Dwyer.

The best part of the day was seeing the big crowd of us opposing this crappy bill, speaking with fellow patriots, being involved, and getting to talk with Delegate Smigiel for a few minutes.

Actually by about 4 you could get back in the building to watch the testimony. My son and I just got home, was there from 8:30 this morning until 9:30 this evening.

I actually think one of the best speakers was the Frederick County sheriff.

 

[occbrian]

What a great day. Proud to be a Marylander.

Nice to meet some of you.

It's not over yet. Don't get complacent.

 

[fabsroman]

Can someone give me a report on Frosh... Was he respectful to the oppose witnesses? I'm getting mixed reports that he was nasty, talked to aides and left the room when oppose witnesses came up. He is "my" senator and I already owe him a stern letter over the computer- generated reply he sent me to a thoughtful letter (his auto reply had my first name as "Esq."). Just pitiful - shows how much he cares about his constituency. If the reports I am hearing are true, I want to address that in my letter as well.

Harry

He was "my" senator too until I left Montgomery County 2 years ago. Wrote my Senator and Delegates here in Howard County a couple weeks ago and 2 out of the 3 straight up replied they were against any gun regulation. The one woman out of the bunch is the holdout and I am about to send her an e-mail with my written testimony attached as a pdf. Might even run against her in the next election if I don't like her response/vote on this matter. Never thought I would run for office because I think all politicians are liars, but it might be the best way for me to make a difference.

 

[Bolts Rock]

Patrick (MSI) just spoke. The good news is that we just shut down the senate. The bad news is we just shut down the senate. They are basically at capacity and the fire Marshall is ready to say they are at capacity. He also mentioned hat this bill probably won't pass muster as is. They are trying to break it up. Patrick mentioned meta committees comprised of members of other committees to hear parts of the bills. Patrick will be along eventually to keep me honest.

He also mentioned that the bill will be heard in the house and that our voice needs to be heard there as well. You can send your info here to be put on a VIP list to testify in the house.

Send your name, zip code and email address to

Info@MarylandShallIssue.org

I spoke right after him on the mall. Yes, I spoke to sporting use so you can use it to shut down any anti's claims about it. I figured that was something else to address rather than another 2A rant. Hitting an anti with 2A is like beating your face on a brick wall.

 

[mayor_quimby]

just got home was proud to be a part of this... Had a nice bright orange " guns save lives " sticker on when i was going into the senate building an older gentleman was storming out looked at me gave me a dirty look and said yeah right and stormed off. All in all I was proud to be around Americans who cared

 

[Bradw410]

When will we know the outcome Whether it passes or not ?

 

[HoCoShooter]

One other quick note - Senator Nancy Jacobs continues to be a great friend to have on our side and thank you emails go a long way.

 

[Boom Boom]

Just got back home after 14 hours. Awesome day today. Stood in line with Lou and Armadillofz1 for six hours waiting to sign up to testify. Finally got to testify for 10 seconds at the end. I was fortunate enough to be able to submit twenty copies of my written testimony a few minutes under the wire earlier in the day. The turnout was staggering.

Doc (teratos) did a great job. Frederick County Sheriff Jenkins and Carroll County Commissioner Rothschild hit grand slam home runs. The overflow room downstairs was still packed by then and erupted into thunderous applause.

Frosh was smug and disrespectful. A very small excuse for a man. Behind-the-scenes people in the back of the testimony room thanked me on my way out when I stared at Frosh and said I was a lifelong Democrat opposing all of the bills.

I assume other people have mentioned it here (haven't had time to look), but people against the bills outnumbered people for the bills by probably 100 to 1.

 

[smokey]

Here's some of my sights throughout the day...

This is the line to sign the book to testify

....so is this...

....so is this...It started outside and snaked all the way through the senate building, up the stairs, and zig-zagged until it wraped around to where the senate judiciary committee room was.

This is the line to sign up to testify around 1...

And here is where it stopped. The fire marshal locked down the building and wouldn't let anyone in because the building was over its limit. The people waiting in line formed a small secondary rally outside the doors

Frosh cut off testimony at 9. Everyone standing in line here(the line wraps down the stairs and below on the first floor) was directed to only say their name, where they are from, and their position on the bills before moving on. Nobody in this line got to testify, although we were all signed up(I signed up by 10am).

 

[Boom Boom]

If it's not obvious, there were thousands of people inside all day who signed up to testify. Hence why the fire marshal put the building into lockdown before it got too packed. The photos above don't even begin to give an idea of how long the line inside was, snaking back and forth seemingly forever across two floors.

 

[smokey]

....loading youtube videos now...

this is juuuuuuust when the line started forming upstairs at around 945am


this one has surprise gues appearances at the end...

 

[Rattlesnake46319]

....loading youtube videos now...

So when ya gonna fill that holster?

Nice touch there, brothaman.

 

[Mike OTDP]

I got in line at 1030...signed up to speak at 1230. Never did get to speak, except for the 10-second walk-through after 9 pm. Vexing. I did submit written testimony - as if they read it.

I know there were at least 500 people signed up to testify, Frosh admitted it. Suspect it may have been more. I'll have more to say tomorrow. We did OK, but need to step up our game for the next round.

 

[-Z/28-]

Hey, that's me. (Black shirt holding jacket) You were red shirt with the empty holster right?

 

[r3t1awr3yd]

(My pictures...)


That's Santa!!! Oh wait, that's Mario from keepshooting

And the pano from the iphone...

 

[r3t1awr3yd]

(My brother's pictures...)

 

[smokey]

 

[smokey]

So when ya gonna fill that holster?

Nice touch there, brothaman.

Thanks I'm bad at following directions