Baltimore Delegate Wants To Strengthen Gun Laws
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- Public safety versus personal protection in Annapolis again this year. A Baltimore City delegate wants to add another level of protection on who can buy a gun in Maryland.
Political reporter Pat Warren explains this is not a typical pro or con argument.
This bill prevents people on government no-fly lists from getting gun permits in Maryland.
The latest shooting rampage---three dead, 16 wounded in Kansas---keeps guns on the minds of Americans. Maryland had some of the toughest gun laws in the country and now comes another: if you are on a government no-fly list, you cannot own a gun.
"It's the lack of due process," said Douglas Jones.
It happens that people wind up on no-fly lists without knowing why.
"We don't know how you get your name on the list. We don't know how you get your name off the list. People who have had their names on the list have been told you can't," said Shannon Alford, NRA.
Douglas Jones has no objection to banning guns for terrorists.
"Absolutely not. I don't want them to have guns. It's the people who get caught up in the system accidentally, like misspellings of names or some person informed they didn't like their neighbor and he should be on the list...who knows how they get on the list?" said Jones.
Bill sponsor Baltimore Delegate Luke Clippinger says while the government works out these bugs, Maryland should be proactive.
"We need to make sure that, frankly, if they can't get on a plane, they shouldn't be able to buy a gun," said Delegate Luke Clippinger.
The bill's supporters say the stakes are just too high.
In Maryland, as everywhere else, it's a struggle to find the balance.
The bill got a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee Friday.