‘Multifaceted’ gun bill debated

House hears testimony on Democratic delegate’s plan to revise limits on concealed carry permits and double the fees for them

As Democratic members of Maryland’s General Assembly scramble to implement a new concealed carry gun policy for the state, House lawmakers heard testimony Wednesday on a bill to tighten restrictions on who can carry a firearm in public.

House Judiciary Committee Chair Luke Clippinger’s bill seeks to limit who may receive a permit to wear and carry a gun. It’s in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June in a case from another state that effectively also struck down Maryland’s policy as unconstitutional. The Maryland law required people to show a good reason to get a license to wear a concealed firearm.

“This legislation removes the ‘good and substantial reason’ language from Maryland, while also making changes to both our wear and carry permit process and to the process for getting a regulated firearm that I believe will strengthen public safety,” said Clippinger, a Baltimore Democrat.

John Josselyn of 2A Maryland, a gun owners advocacy group, testified in opposition to the bill. He said the Supreme Court ruling did not make guns easier to obtain in Maryland, it just qualified more people to apply for wear and carry permits.

“They’re not easier to get, they’re simply more available to the average citizen,” he said. “It’s no longer the elitist class.”

Under the legislation, people couldn’t get a permit if they were on supervised probation after being convicted of a crime with a penalty of more than a year in prison, if they were caught driving while impaired or under the influence, or if they violated a protective order.

The legislation also seeks to tackle children’s access to firearms.

Currently, if a gun is improperly stored in a place where its owner knew or reasonably should have known a child could get it, they can be fined $1,000 under state law.

Under Clippinger’s bill, the consequences would be greater. If the owner is convicted of the offense, they couldn’t own a gun for five years. There would be a lifetime ban for any subsequent offense or if the first violation resulted someone’s death.

If enacted, gun owners would have to be at least 21 to have a wear and carry permit. People under 21 could have guns if they were supervised by an adult and had permission from a parent or guardian.

The bill would prohibit people who suffer from mental illness with a history of violent behavior, have been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility for a month or longer, or are subject to any protective orders, including an extreme risk protective order known as a “red flag,” from receiving wear and carry licenses.

Del. Robin Grammer, a Baltimore County Republican, argued that some protective orders “are very broad.”

“So if we pass something along these lines, you’re essentially going to disqualify a person completely from getting a permit,” he said.

Andrea Chamblee’s husband, John McNamara, was murdered in the 2018 mass shooting at The Capital newsroom in Annapolis. Speaking from “personal experience,” she said people have told her that now that Maryland has a red flag law, a similar attack couldn’t happen. She disagrees.

“What we really need is a multifaceted approach to gun violence like we have in this bill,” Chamblee explained. “This is one of the myriad tools that we need in our toolbox. Because one particular thing, like the red flags, or the other bills that are very important in their own way, they become tools we can use to keep people alive.”

The Capital is owned by Baltimore Sun Media.

Grammer said he loves the idea of having another “tool in the toolbox,” but expressed frustration at what he said are gun control advocates’ annual attempts to limit access to firearms for law-abiding Marylanders.

“The problem is, every time you come to the committee with one of these bills, you’re criminalizing ownership,” he said to Chamblee.

The legislation would alter the application process for permits, doubling the fee to $150. Permit renewal fees would go up, too, from $50 to $100. According to Clippinger, the fees haven’t increased since 1992.

Firearms training courses would be required to include classroom instruction on Maryland’s self-defense law; the justifiable, deadly and proportional use of force; conflict de-escalation; and federal firearms statutes. Gun owners also would need to pass a qualification test where they perform live-fire shooting exercises on a firing range with a handgun.

Permits would need to be renewed every two years. If permits are denied or revoked, the secretary of the Maryland State Police must provide written notice to the applicant, along with a detailed explanation.

Montgomery County Del. Aaron Kaufman, a Democrat, told Clippinger that his approach to re-regulating the state’s wear and carry policy is “pretty moderate.”

Clippinger, an assistant state’s attorney in Anne Arundel County, said he was looking to “stay within the outlines of the permitting process and stay within the permitting process.”

“There are other conversations that are dealing with broader issues about sensitive places and other things,” he said. “What I’ve tried to do here is to stay within the bounds of the law and effectively build on what we have already passed in Maryland law, which the Supreme Court has already indicated that they don’t have a problem with.”