ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Eastern Shore of Maryland lawmakers weighed in on Monday about proposed gun bills that were heard by the house judiciary committee.
Two bills, in particular, have gun owners up in arms. One aims to put further restrictions on long gun owners, while the other looks to regulate AR-15 HBAR rifles.
Wicomico County Del. Carl Anderton says he does not think these bills will bring solutions to the true problems Maryland is facing.
"Quite honestly I think we're going about it completely backwards," Anderton said. "If you're going to obtain a gun illegally, it should be 50 years. 50 years. As soon as that starts happening some 20 year old will think man, I'll be 70 when I get out. Maybe this ain't worth it. Until we do that, I think all this other stuff really is pointless. It's not going to stop anybody from doing anything."
Midshore Del. Johnny Mautz agrees. He thinks legislation should focus on the mental health of gun owners.
"We need to come up with a system where gun owners who need mental health treatment, can get mental health treatment without losing their gun rights," Mautz said.
Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis says Eastern Shore, law-abiding gun owners should not have to pay the price for crimes committed in metropolitan areas.
"I think we, citizens across the state of Maryland are tired of being penalized for Baltimore City's inability to control their crime," Lewis said.
But Executive Director of Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence Elizabeth Banach supports the measures. She says the goal is not to infringe on second amendment rights, only to protect public safety.
"We believe people have the right to have guns, we believe there are ways people can lawfully use guns," Banach said. "None of those things are going to hurt hunters. In fact, I think they'll only help protect children that reside within the homes of hunters."
Ed Torbert, of Salisbury, is a gun owner who traveled to Annapolis Monday for the hearing. He feels the new legislation is unnecessary.
"It's sort of the shore's culture," Torbert said. "We've always had firearms on the Eastern Shore and we don't have the crime that they have up here. So maybe they ought to start looking at making some of the local legislation instead of trying to throw it all on us. It's just not fair."
Bridget McCullough also made the trek to Annapolis for the hearing. McCullough is a member of the Maryland chapter's Mom Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is in favor of the legislation.
"Anything to reduce the opportunity for someone convicted of domestic violence to get their hands on a gun, the safer we will be," said McCullough.
Lewis says another aspect lawmakers should consider when evaluating these bills is how much it could cost taxpayers. One bill had an estimated price tag of $12 million, which Lewis said would be impossible to do given the upcoming FY19 budget.
Anderton says the long gun qualification bill and AR-15 HBAR bills were written by lawmakers from across the bridge. But it is Eastern Shore legislators jobs to educate those lawmakers on the issues those on Delmarva see with these new gun bills.
The gun bills were only heard today by the house judiciary committee. The committee will need to review and vote on each bill before it could potentially get to the house floor.
