SB 281: summary of revisions made at Good Friday mark up

[hvymax]

So i got a pbj for a assualt case last year so there going to come take my current guns away?

Pretty much.

 

[RugerRedbone]

I was referring to the copy cat weapon portion of the bill. Originally any semi auto long fun with a detachable mag was considered a copy cat weapon if it has two or more military characteristics. Such as collapsible stock /folding stock, flash suppressor, pistol grip, forward pistol grip or bayonet lug. In the draft bill sent out Thursday night they had scratched off all but the folding stock, flash suppressor and bayonet lug from that list. I was just wondering if it still read the same way or if the list is back to original form.

 

[dblas]

This is my non-comprehensive summary regarding changes to SB 281 made at the Good Friday markup before the combined Judiciary and Health committees.

It was a day off work for me, so I was there for the entire mark up, which lasted something over 7 hours. The committee started with the "consolidated" draft distributed by Delegate McDermott's office late on March 28, which the delegates referred to as the "re-print," and which is posted here. The amendments considered at the mark up session were not distributed to spectators, and only a few were read aloud, so it was not possible to track every detail. But few substantial amendments were accepted. Most of the successful amendments were of no great consequence. With a few exceptions, a solid majority of the Democrats, conferring frequently with representatives of the governor's office, voted as a bloc against substantial revisions.

Therefore, except as noted below, the bill is still pretty much what I described in this outline posted on March 28 here.

(However, note that I did not cover most of the "mental health" provisions in my outline, as there are others here far better equipped to interpret them.)

At the Good Friday mark up, an amendment was adopted to exempt antiques and curios & relics from the requirement for the handgun qualification license, but the Democrats refused to accept another amendment to allow "assault weapons" to be purchased or transferred in state if they meet the federal definition of a "curio or relic." If anyone needs more details on the effects of these two C&R amendments, the one adopted and the one rejected, please e-mail me, rather than posting on this thread.

An amendment was adopted to impose a disqualification for firearms on anyone who is found guilty of a crime of violence, and who then is given "probation before judgment" (PBJ) by the judge. As described by the sponsor, Luiz Simmons (D-Montgomery), such a person would still be eligible to apply for expungement, three years after completing the probation, and if expungement is granted, the conviction and the firearms disability will go away. This amendment was adopted by an alliance that cut across the usual ideological lines, but over the strong objections of some of the liberal members and of Chairman Vallario, so it is by no means clear whether it will survive the anticipated conference committee. Simmons said that the governor supports the amendment.

An amendment was Delegate Michael Smigiel (R-36) was initially adopted to deny good-time points and early release for persons incarcerated for using violent crimes using firearms. However, the governor's office apparently twisted somebody's arm, Judiciary Chairman Joe Vallario ordered a re-do on the vote, and the amendment was declared defeated on a tie, 23-23, to the loud protests of Mr. Smigiel and many of the spectators.

The crazy "restricted firearm ammunition" provision was replaced with some new language that both sides apparently found satisfactory, but I have no idea what it says. If there was anybody on the combined committee who knows anything much about ammunition, it was not readily apparent from the discussion that occurred on this provision before someone went off to redraft the language in consultation with the Maryland State Police.

An amendment to repeal the old "ballistic fingerprinting" law was rejected, although it was stated that the machine used to seek casing matches has been broken since 2005, and it didn't sound like anybody was planning to fix it. In Maryland, gun control is a ratchet which operates only in one direction.

Another amendment by Simmons, to require medical professionals to report to law enforcement any imminent threat to inflict major physical injury on a named person, failed after considerable debate.

In perhaps the most striking display of ideological rigidity all day, the controlling block of Democrats voted down an amendment to allow current off-duty peace officers, and retired law enforcement officers who are certified under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, to carry firearms on public school property. Delegate Kathleen Dumais (D-Montgomery) led the opposition to this amendment.

A new version of the bill, called a "second reader," which will incorporate all of the committee amendments, may be available as early as Monday.

Even after the bill passes the House, the conference committee will be able to change anything that the Democratic leaders of both houses want changed. Therefore, if there is some amendment that was adopted in the Good Friday markup that you like, or some amendment adopted on the floor next week that you like, don't make a big deal about it here, unless you want to get it added to the leadership hit-list for the conference committee.

Were you the one sitting in the overflow center seats scribbling notes on the notepad all day?

Nice write up by the way.

 

[ddeanjohnson]

Were you the one sitting in the overflow center seats scribbling notes on the notepad all day?

No, I was in the Judiciary hearing room scribbling notes on a note pad all day.

Nice write up by the way.

Thank you.

 

[ddeanjohnson]

I was referring to the copy cat weapon portion of the bill. Originally any semi auto long fun with a detachable mag was considered a copy cat weapon if it has two or more military characteristics. Such as collapsible stock /folding stock, flash suppressor, pistol grip, forward pistol grip or bayonet lug. In the draft bill sent out Thursday night they had scratched off all but the folding stock, flash suppressor and bayonet lug from that list. I was just wondering if it still read the same way or if the list is back to original form.

As far as I could tell, with respect to those provisions, no changes were made to the March 28 draft that they started the markup with. So I believe what we will find in the "second reading" version, early next week, is:

-- A semiautomatic centerfire rifle would be a banned assault weapon if it is on the current list of 45 regulated assault rifles ((Public Safety Article Section 5-101(R)), OR if it met any one of these three tests: (1) Has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds; (2) has an overall length of less than 29 inches; or (3) has any two of the following three attributes: (i) folding stock, (ii) grenade or flare launcher, or (iii) flash suppressor. A semiautomatic rimfire rifle would never be an "assault" weapon.

-- A semiautomatic pistol would be a banned "assault" weapons only if it has a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds; this applies to both rimfire and centerfire. (On March 29, an amendment to exempt rimfire was rejected by the committee after Delegate Dumais said, mistakenly, that rimfire weapons were already exempted.)

-- A semiautomatic shotgun would be a banned "assault" weapon if it had either a folding stock or a revolving cylinder.

 

[ddeanjohnson]

There was an amendment to allow current LE/MIL/NG members to acquire assault weapons and keep them after retirement. I believe the reason for the amendment was so they could maintain proficiency or something. This is the one McDermett tried to get amended to include the "unorganized militia", hoping the libs were clueless.

Sorry, I wasn't paying as much attention to those provisions as I should have been. An exception for the Maryland Defense Force was added, but the proposed exception for the "unorganized militia" was rejected. An amendment for active-duty military was accepted, but I did not notice any successful amendment for retired military. There was some amendments that were accepted with little discussion, and I was out of the room briefly from time to time, so I cannot say for certain.

 

[kamikazeH20mln]

Sorry, I wasn't paying as much attention to those provisions as I should have been. An exception for the Maryland Defense Force was added, but the proposed exception for the "unorganized militia" was rejected. An amendment for active-duty military was accepted, but I did not notice any successful amendment for retired military. There was some amendments that were accepted with little discussion, and I was out of the room briefly from time to time, so I cannot say for certain.

Anybody here belong to the Maryland Defense Force? Never even knew it existed till now! Don't like that it reports to MOM, but if it gives a VERY large exception, may be worth it.

 

[Dave MP]

Anybody here belong to the Maryland Defense Force? Never even knew it existed till now! Don't like that it reports to MOM, but if it gives a VERY large exception, may be worth it.

Look here for info on MDDF:
http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=84679#post2301748

 

[kamikazeH20mln]

Look here for info on MDDF:
http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=84679#post2301748

Thank you good sir! Saw an older version of the website floating out there outside the state's website.

 

[jrumann59]

So once this passes and MOM signs it nothing can be done for injunctions or appeals until after Oct 1.