"Bagel Brain Jews Want Your Bullets and Your Guns"
This anti-Semitic attack on myself and Senator Brian Frosh is the handiwork of the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership.
I ignored this foul slur when I first learned of it from a Google News Alert.
After it was mailed to residents in Senator Frosh's neighborhood, a Sun reporter asked me about it.
He accurately quoted me as saying: "I'm not going to allow them to deter me from what I believe we should be doing, nor is it going to prompt me to fall into the gutter with them."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bal-md.flier13mar13,0,3259898.story
It was front page news that my committee and my chairman were criticized for "rude behavior and ravaging witnesses" by the president of the Women Legislators of Maryland.
As I've written in this diary, witnesses need to be asked more tough questions, not fewer.
One constituent wrote me: "80 million of law abiding gun owners knows this [my bill is "just a political agenda rather than what's best for the citizenry."] and they sure remember it at re-election time."
My 28 years in Annapolis have taught me otherwise. If the voters know that you make your decisions on controversial bills after serious thought, they won't throw you out of office because of one vote.
Advocates on the right and the left may wish that were so, but it rarely is.
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Your 28 years have you taught that you come from an overwhelmingly liberal district that will never throw you out of office. Short of committing felonies, you are likely to have your seat for life. As one of your constituents, I am horrified that someone as 2nd Amendment hating, self-defense fearing and all around gun loathing as you represent me in the House of Delegates.
ReplyDeleteBut, that is the state of affairs and there is little hope of change. You have never entertained logic when it comes to 'gun control.' Your bills are written out of ignorance. Your objection to reforming Maryland's concealed carry laws are rooted in myths that have long been debunked.
Maryland has some of the most strident and Draconian 'gun control' in the country. Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia do not. Why are they safer? Why have they not turned into the 'wild west' with all their 'putting guns in the hands of citizens'? Why is it that Fairfax County is safer than Montgomery County, despite having far less restrictive laws? Why does Baltimore have some of the highest crime rates in the nation while Maryland is ranked 5th in toughness by the Brady Center? Why is New Jersey ranked 2nd by the Brady Center yet has a city like Camden which is nearly the MOST dangerous city in America?
Why did you propose HB 820 when state law already covers everything in that bill? It's not about protecting people are some fantasy you have about 'straw purchases.' If the Maryland legislature had actually complied with the REAL ID act, perhaps our driver's licenses which you claim do not prevent straw purchases would actually do so. Instead, you are looking to drive gun owners and dealers out of the state by adding more bureaucracy, red tape and fees to make it untenable for business.
Though, you do have one dopey ad by a Jewish group sent to a few Jewish legislators to distract the citizenry. Distract them from your incremental steps at making legal firearm ownership nearly impossible.
Facts and logic are not on your side. Fear and ignorance, unfortunately, are.
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ReplyDeleteI think it's outrageous that anti-Semitic comments were made about you and Senator Frosh. Senator Frosh has certainly made some disingenuous remarks about people who value their second amendment rights, but this is not the honorable way to respond.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on most issues. I agree with Senator Frosh on most issues. But I think you are on the wrong side of firearms rights, and are seeking to pass legislation that would cause undue burden on both law-abiding citizens and businessowners.
Canada has reversed a decade-old gun registration scheme because it was found to be exhorbitantly expensive with little return on investment. They are putting the money into more police officers and better equipment. Ballistic fingerprinting has been an expensive failure everywhere it's been tried.
Even Connecticut, known for being even more leftist than Maryland on some issues, backed off on firearm registration this past week, determining that it wouldn't be cost-effective and would target the law-abiding and not be effective in targeting illegal trafficking. Heck, the state task force in PG County has lost guns that were later used to kill police! Why would we give the police more power outside the scope of their charter?!
The safest states have the fewest gun restrictions (and some of the lowest "Brady" scores, as another poster noted). Maybe they are onto something.
And there are a lot of us progressives who are educated and also committed to exercising our rights protected by the U.S. Constitution--and applicable to Maryland by default. Don't think it's just the far right that values our RKBA. This is not a "conservative" issue. This is a civil rights issue.
(reposted to correct typos)