Montgomery Journal Letters To The Editor

Lawmakers killed good gun bills along with bad

Your article, ``Senate committee kills gun bills," noted that the committee ``made quick work" of all gun bills.

Before the hearing started, Chairman Walter Baker announced he was going to kill all gun bills, regardless of anyone's testimony. I've heard that Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert, ordered Baker, D-Cecil, not to let any gun bill out of committee because gun control would be a losing issue for Democrats this fall.

Fortunately, most of these bills died, especially Sen. Christopher Van Hollen Jr.'s despicable ``Gun Accountability Act," which would have forced gun owners to be fingerprinted like common criminals.

Van Hollen, D-Kensington, made a cameo appearance to pitch his ``Gun Owner Humiliation Act," but he was too busy to stay and hear prepared testimony from disgruntled constituents like me. Other priorities, including his quest for Connie Morella's seat, must be keeping him from his duties in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Unfortunately, two of those bills were good ones. The first, SB 382, would have allowed any lawful citizen, after passing a safety test and a background check, to carry a concealed firearm. Contrary to uninformed opinion, in the 33 states that have such a law already, there are no shootouts over parking spaces or any such nonsense.

Permit-holders statistically are more law-abiding than the police who issue them. And guess what? Crime rates go down and lives are saved.

The second bill, SB 469, would have prevented the denial of gun rights from decent citizens. The National Rifle Association has been warning us for years about the dreaded ``knock on the door" to confiscate our firearms.

Sadly enough, it already has begun in Maryland. Attorney General Joseph J. Curran just started enforcing an obscure law that allows him to exploit misdemeanors to deny gun rights retroactively and confiscate firearms.

In one case, Larry Dickens, from outside Cumberland, had his legally owned hunting rifle confiscated because of a 20-year-old ``shoving match."Maryland's Legislature needs to pass some real common-sense gun laws like these and stop harassing decent gun owners.

STEVE DIRLIK
Silver Spring



Nazi comparisons are not uncommon

Your editorial on campaign finance reform (``Slime creep," March 21) refers to ``the blitzkrieg ad wars, conducted mostly on television, that demolish the reputations of candidates." Is there any difference in your use of the term ``blitzkrieg," which was a particular Nazi military strategy, and Gus Alzona's controversial flier's emphasis of another strategy - gun owner registration - used by the Nazis? The ridiculous characterization of the flier as ``hate speech" trivializes the proposed trampling of our right to bear arms.

The proposed retaliations by our public officials against the flier's author tend to reinforce the flier's message. The Journal reports that the county executive has concluded that the flier is sufficient to have the author removed from appointed position ``for cause." If I were an editorial cartoonist, I'd consider a cartoon showing Nazi book burners next to Montgomery County flier burners.

GEORGE SCHULIN
Derwood



Latham to run as Independent

Independent candidate John Latham said he will run for a House of Delegates seat in District 16. Nancy Kopp, of Bethesda, vacated a seat in the district earlier this year to become Maryland's treasurer.

Del. Susan C. Lee, D-Bethesda, was elected Kopp's replacement by local Democrats and has said she plans to run for the seat this fall.

Latham, a 32-year-old North Bethesda resident, said he supports having no limits on civilian ownership of weapons, as well as the legalization of some drugs.

He also said he does not support new or higher taxes, as well as opposes abortion. In addition, Latham supports Metro growth, but opposes the Inter-County Connector and other forms of rapid development.

WHITNEY L. JACKSON