By Jason Davis, Reporting from Annapolis MD
Annapolis MD – -(Ammoland.com)- Hello AmmoLand readers, this is my after action report on the Maryland’s SB281 Gun Control Legislation hearing held in Annapolis 2/6/2013.
I met a few people from MDShooters and Maryland Shall Issue, so it was great to meet them. As I mentioned was there yesterday, one of the People who were refused the opportunity to testimony. At 9ish, the Senate declared no more testimony (they ran out of anti-gun supporters early on) and had us line up to speak at the mic and state name and opposition for or against only.
On Wednesday, February 6, 2013, the Maryland Senate held a hearing on their bill, SB281, gun control legislation. I, and a few thousand people showed up to testify and oppose this bill. What you will not hear is this, at approximately 2:30 pm, we [gun owners] shut down the Senate Building.
The DGS police and state police closed the building down for “safety reasons”. We passed the fire code capacity, and we still flooded the lawn waiting to get in! Delegate Dwyer stated outside to the crowd, still there ,that this was the first time in his 11 years in the legislature that the building had ever been shut down. He sent an email this morning that this was in fact the first time EVER that the building shut down. We were there!
Inside in the hearing room, Senator Miller at one point said over the mic that over 1,000 people had signed up to testify. This was for the recorded. But as expected, next day local reporters were quoting from the AP saying only a few hundred people were there…What?
The Governor (we call him MOM, it fits perfectly for the nanny state) was booed earlier in the day during his side entry into the building. I wasn’t able to hear the Governor’s testimony or that of the State’s Attorney, but a few people did walk out because of the lies that were being said about the bill. I did hear one elected official talk about the bill, and he did in fact lie and mislead the Senators about the content of the bill.
Of the people, there were very few who were in favor, but one person of note for the bill, was Anthony W. Batts, Police Commissioner of the City of Baltimore. He began his testimony with affirming his belief in the Second Amendment. He said that he believes in the Constitution and affirmed his oath to uphold it, then quoted from it, by saying that the “People have a right to life, liberty, and justice”.
Seriously, he said that. That’s not a misquote of the Constitution, but a misquote from the Declaration of Independence. It makes one wonder, do these people in higher office even know what they are taking oaths to defend? To be sure, he was booed by a few hundred people in the breakout rooms of the Senate Building in Annapolis. Too bad he couldn’t hear us through the walls.
This testament was contrary to the few county Commissioners and a county Sheriff who opposed the bill, bringing to light the blatant disregard of not only the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, but blatant disregard of parts of the Maryland Constitution.
I could go on and on about what happened yesterday, of the excellent testimony given by my fellow patriots, but note this: While the rally was being held on Lawyers Mall across the street, a bald eagle was spotted circling the demonstrators. Unlike the “progress” of our country, that was a good sign.