Sorry, Mr. Boteler, "to preserve liberty [Second Amendment]", many children and parents and others must die. And many more after those are gone. That is the legacy of the Second Amendment. It is a simple fact of death.

it is about us being able to protect ourselves from government. Gun legislation is not going to do anything but hurt the good people. You can't legislate against the fringe elements of society.

Just a simple fact.

Emotional rhetoric in lieu of coherent thoughts on the subject will always win the day to the holpophobes.

The 1988 ban on "Saturday night specials" was to be the law that prevented more firearm violence.
The Firearm Safety Act of 2000 signed by Glendening was to be the law that prevented more firearm violence.
Now the Firearm Safety Act of 2013 will be the law that will prevent more firearm violence.

We started with a whole pie, the Saturday night special law took half that pie and left the poorer residents no means to protect themselves.

Then with the FSA of 2000 they took another half of our pie and left us with 1/4 of a pie.

Now the FSA of 2013, they want half of our 1/4 of the pie we have left form compromising. The infringers will have taken 7/8 of our pie and will nto stop until we have no pie left.

Incrementalism is how tyrants behave. We see it every January in this sorry state.

Wow! Mr. Boteler I was with you until the last paragraph. How pathetic! You blame our problems on culture (violent video games and movies). It's not culture. It's the fact criminals and the mentally ill have access to weapons. And quite frankly I like the high capacity magazine ban, background checks, but NOT the assault rifle ban.
I must ask: Are you blind? NRA members and the American people are in favor of new gun control regulations.
Let's just agree that people who aid criminals and people who illicitly sell weapons should be punished and put it jail for a LONG time.

Just a simple fact of death.

A license to exercise a God given right secured by the US Constitution but no ID to exercise the right to vote?
How hypocritical of the boy gov.

Now lets talk about this Government "TAKING". If one owns any of the banned firearms should this infringement on the 2nd pass, who will be the one to pay compensation to the owner? Will that compensation be the true market value on the day of the "taking" or will it be some arbitrary number or will there BE NO compensation and therefore a violation of the 5th Amendment?

"nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

Delegate Boteler, any talk of this issue when our expensive legally owned firearms are rendered worthless by this law?

The holpophobes are as hypocritical as anyone. Hollywierdo star of BULLET TO THE HEAD calls for more gun laws.

Do these people hear themselves? BULLET TO THE HEAD and firearm violence on the big screen will make the star millions but he wants us all to be further infringed.

Movies and violent video games seem to have bit the dust in this national discussion.

Obama went to Minneapolis yesterday to push his unconstitutional infringements on our rights. Why did he not go to Chicago where the 14 year old girl who sang at his inauguration was slaughtered by black youths with ILLEGAL firearms? Where 500 were murdered just last year, more deadly than Afghanistan.

Where is the national debate on the vast majority of firearm violence? Are we only to discuss less than 1% caused with long guns?

Why do they always throw out the phrase "law abiding". It's ridiculous. Adam Lanza, Jarod Loughner etc. were "law abiding" right up until they pulled the trigger....

"Obama went to Minneapolis yesterday to push his unconstitutional infringements on our rights. Why did he not go to Chicago where the 14 year old girl who sang at his inauguration was slaughtered by black youths with ILLEGAL firearms?"

Maybe because the Minnesota Legislature are currently holding hearings regarding the stiffening of gun regulations. THe same reason the President will be visiting Annapolis in the near future.

The focus of this legislation is to reduce gun violence not to take self defense guns and rifles from law abiding citizens. The scream from folks who own guns come from gun manufacturing companies. That voice is amplified by the NRA. This is another example of too much corporate money in the political system. In order to reduce gun violence we SHOULD require a license to buy a gun. This requirement will not stop, but it will greatly reduce the purchase of illegally obtained hand guns. It you can legally obtain a hand gun you should have no problem with this new restriction on criminal access to guns. The loudest voices perpetually broadcast the idea that we always want to take gun from law abiding citizens and this is simply propaganda from the gun lobby. Mt Boetler is wrong on this.

How is making it more difficult for a law abiding gun owner to have a gun going to decrease firearm violence? The only benefit of mandatory firearm education class is that the gangbangers will become better shots....hence there will eventually be less of them. Headline "GANG MEMBERS LINE UP FOR MANDATORY TRAINING WITH THEIR ILLEGAL FIREARMS."

From the headline, Del. Boteler is correct. Gun control is not THE answer, it is PART of the answer.

I will support having a 2nd Amendment vigorously, but when abuses of rights granted by the 2nd Amendment deny people of their rights (Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness) endowed in the main body of the Constitution we have a problem.

Very simple game.

My response to Del. Boeteler
http://perryhall.patch.com//blog_posts/solutions-to-gun-violence-that-work

Ohhhhh myyyyyy, dear, sweet, naïve liberals, you mean so well!
"By making it a little more difficult for law abiding citizens you make it nearly impossible for criminals to get these weapons. Its that simple."
Oy vey.
It that why cities in the US with the strictest gun control laws and gun free zones are the MOST DANGEROUS?
Educate yourself.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/4/chicago-murder-rate-far-worse-strict-gun-control/

http://johnrlott.blogspot.com/

Until then, hush.

LOL John Lott was thoroughly discredited years ago. Try to keep up.

It doesn't matter what kind of new laws we make, if we do not address the mental health crisis. 4600 young people a year die by their own hand across the US (CDC statistic). That is a mental health crisis. The shame of it is the three or four that want to make headlines as they go down, which causes a whole country to go down a path that leads to so much contention..

Gun control is not an American stance.
"Firearms stand next in importance to the constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence … from the hour the Pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable … the very atmosphere of firearms anywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of honor with all that's good."
George Washington
First President of the United States

"The supposed quietude of a good man allures the ruffian; while on the other hand arms, like laws, discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as property. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside … Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them."
Thomas Paine

"Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not."
Thomas Jefferson
Third President of the United States

"The great object is that every man be armed." and "Everyone who is able may have a gun."
Patrick Henry
American Patriot

Utah was very smart is not attempting to control guns by law abiding citizens but ARMING teachers as a reaction to increased gun violence.
Yes, we need to treat the mentally ill. We need to pay for it with our taxes.

But not everybody that uses guns is mentally ill. They are just evil.
Knowing that their fellow, peaceable citizens are armed will make hooligans, mentally ill or otherwise think twice and if he still doesn't then the good man can shoot him before he is shot ..as well as potentially others like in a school shooting incident.
"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that … it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; … "
Thomas Jefferson
letter to Justice John Cartwright, June 5, 1824. ME 16:45.

Its very simple math. The more guns there are the more gun incidents there will be. SOME of them will be incidents of self protection. As much as folks would like to talk about self protection, the conversation should be focussed on reduction of misuse. We need to find a way to reduce suicide by guns that parents leave laying around unattended. We need to talk about how to reduce straw purchases of illegally obtain hand guns. And we need an honest conversation about the use of semi automatic guns in these horrific mass shootings. The only way to do that is to put tighter rules on accessing guns in the first place. The "mentally ill" conversation is part of this conversation, but it is not the only answer. It appears to me that gun proponants are only focussed on themselves as gun owners. We need to balance the rights of all the rest of us that want to live in a less violent society. Gun COntrol IS part of the answer, not the entire answer.

this will help Move Maryland in the right direction:
https://www.change.org/petitions/support-solutions-to-gun-violence-that-work#

As always Joe Botler is rigt on, he shows great leadership, I think we the taxpayers are geting or money worth with Joe, I wish I could say they about the other ones, My hats off to Joe , Leon Benner