Gun bill secures final passage in Senate

ANNAPOLIS — The Senate on Thursday approved Gov. Martin O’Malley-backed legislation to require the training, licensing and fingerprinting of handgun purchasers and the banning of semi-automatic assault weapons.

With the 28-19 vote, attention shifts to the House of Delegates, where the Judiciary Committee is slated to hold a hearing Friday on the proposed 2013 Firearm Safety Act.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch, D-Anne Arundel, said he expects House Bill 294 to leave his chamber “very similar” to the version the Senate adopted.

He did, however, expect strong opposition from some delegates — especially concerning the handgun licensing requirement, which has been derided as costly and of questionable constitutionality.

“It’s a more laborious process in the House,” Busch said, because of its 141 members, compared to 47 in the Senate.

The Senate vote on S.B. 281 occurred after about 18 hours of debate over three days.

“It’s a life-saving bill,” said Sen. Brian E. Frosh, who managed the legislation on the Senate floor. The Montgomery County Democrat said the measure’s licensing requirement and ban on assault-weapons ban were narrow limits on gun possession, which promote public safety and comply with the Second Amendment.

But Senate Minority Leader E.J. Pipkin said the bill, though having “all the good intentions,” will not protect the public because perpetrators of violent crimes are not concerned with licensing requirements.

“The legislation really doesn’t go after criminals who use guns in crimes,” said Pipkin, R-Upper Shore. “I can’t look my constituents in the eyes and say we made them safer.”

The legislation, which would go into effect Oct. 1, would require that purchasers of handguns first complete a four-hour Maryland State Police-approved firearms safety training course within three years of applying for the $25 license. Law enforcement officers and members of the U.S. military would be exempt from having to take the training course.

In addition, owners of semi-automatic assault weapons would have until Dec. 31 to register their firearms to be in lawful possession of them. The measure would also reduce from 20 to 10 rounds the detachable magazine capacity permitted to be bought and sold in Maryland.

Sen. Allan H. Kittleman, a bill opponent, said O’Malley and Senate sponsors of the legislation do not hold the right to bear arms with the same reverence as other constitutional rights, such as freedom of religion or freedom of speech.

To the supporters, “it’s okay to chill the Second Amendment because [they] don’t necessarily like guns,” said Kittleman, R-Howard and Carroll. “[They] refuse to punish the lawbreakers but are more than willing to trample on people’s constitutional rights.”

Pipkin went further, saying O’Malley’s goal is to ban guns and not simply control their possession, a charge the governor has denied.

The Second Amendment gives law-abiding citizens “an unfettered right” to possess guns, much as the First Amendment guarantees religious freedom, Pipkin added.

“There’s a lot of fettering in this bill, a lot,” Pipkin said, citing the fingerprinting and licensing requirements.

“You would not expect to be fingerprinted to go to church,” he added.

But Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden, D-Baltimore City, said he is “sick and tired of this gun violence” and that the state’s compelling interest in public safety trumps any Second Amendment concerns.

“You can get a gun quicker than you can get an apple or an orange in my district,” McFadden said.

The legislation was sparked by the Dec. 14 shooting deaths of 20 children and six educators at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., by Adam Lanza, who investigators say had an inadequately treated mental illness. Lanza shot himself to death after the attack.

In light of the Newtown violence, the legislation includes a provision requiring police to collect the firearms from individuals involuntarily committed to mental health facilities because they pose a threat to themselves or others. Those individuals could recover their guns after they are deemed no longer a threat.

Under an amendment to the bill offered by Sen. Robert A. “Bobby” Zirkin, D-Baltimore County, people who voluntarily check into a mental health institution will be able to purchase guns upon their release, even if they were admitted for stays of more than 30 days.

However, a stricter standard would apply to individuals who voluntarily check into a mental health institution after an emergency petition for commitment has been filed by someone else, who believes that individual is a danger to him- or herself or others. Upon being discharged from the facility, they will be able to buy a gun only if their treating psychiatrist decides they are not dangerous.

Frosh, who chairs the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, called the bill’s mental-health provision the most difficult on which to get a consensus but also among the most important, citing the Newtown slayings.

Zirkin’s amendment was passed late Wednesday, clearing the way for preliminary approval that night.

On Thursday, the heated Senate discussion over the bill came to a close only after Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Garagiola, D-Montgomery, moved at 11:30 a.m. to limit the opposition to one more hour of debate. The motion passed 29 to 18, the minimum amount of affirmative votes to choke off Senate debate.

Daily Record reporter Alexander Pyles contributed to this article.