ASSOCIATED GUN CLUBS OF BALTIMORE, INC.
AGC Legislative Report - January, 2013
P.O. BOX 20102 - TOWSON, MD 21284-0102
410-296-3947 Email: LVP@ASSOCIATEDGUNCLUBS.ORG
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Editorial:
Buying guns will not protect your gun rights, or your guns;
Only protecting your gun rights will protect your guns.
Immediately following any major firearm involved criminal act such as the multiple deaths recently inflicted by a deranged man, events in the media and government occur in a very predicable pattern:
- The ratings driven news media goes into high gear reporting every lurid detail, without regard to the accuracy of its reporting, or the harm it might cause.
- Anti-2nd Amendment politicians immediately seek to exploit the tragedy and seek out the News Media in a concentrated effort to get as many "sound bites" on the air as possible.
- The Brady Campaign and its local chapters also seek to gain traction and support for their anti-gun agenda with a torrent of emotional and illogical statements coupled with pleas for donations.
- Police chiefs complain about being "outgunned", and call for more laws to ban firearms, magazines and whatever else they can think of.
Unfortunately, some law abiding gun owners react by doing one or more of the following:
- Making statements of false bravado, usually involving the "from my cold dead hands" cliche
- Wasting time posting comments on social media sites and forums
- Panic buying firearm(s) they believe might be banned - usually at inflated prices (see MSP email below)
- Stocking up on ammunition - also, at inflated prices
- Doing nothing at all
Things you should be doing and actions you need to be taking:
- Determine who your elected officials are (most gun owners don't know)
- Call, write and email your elected officials - old fashioned "paper letters" really stand out
- Make an appointment to meet, and actually speak face to face with your elected officials
- Join the AGC Legislative E-mail list to stay informed of the latest developments
- Take action when requested to by the AGC or similar organizations
- Use the AGC's "Email your Legislators" system to send emails to every member of the Maryland General Assembly. Be sure to be respectful and courteous.
- Click here to Email your Legislators
- Plan to attend the hearings in Annapolis and support those groups offering testimony
- Encourage your friends and fellow club members to do all of the above
If we are to continue to enjoy the rights guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment, we must demonstrate a strong, united commitment to defend those rights. In recent days several excellent pieces were sent to me. I am familiar with both. One piece is historical fact from 1946. The other will, I hope, always be a work of fiction.
The Battle of Athens Tennessee
Sundown at Coffin Rock
John H. Josselyn
Legislative Vice President
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| 2013 Legislative Session Will Test the Resolve of Maryland's Gun Owners
"The real challenge is how to collect the thousands of assault weapons already in circulation..."
Maryland Delegate Frank S. Turner
Democrat, District 13, Howard County
Click here for Turner's complete email
The 2013 Session of the Maryland General Asssembly will convene at Noon on Wednesday, January 9, 2013. Without a doubt, we will be confronted with an unprecedented number of draconian gun control and gun ban bills. Delegate Turner predicts "there will be many bills", while Delegate Kelly expects that they will throw "not only the kitchen sink but the entire house." Both are probably correct.
As of this writing, we have not seen any of the proposed bills. However, we can expect bills to ban anything that remotely resembles a military rifle, many semi-automatic firearms (both rifles and pistols), magazines over 10 rounds and perhaps firearms that can accept magazines. If Delegate Turner's email is any true indication of what is being discussed, bills to confiscate certain classes of firearms are not beyond the realm of possibility.
We need a massive and continuous show of opposition, with strong but respectful pressure being maintained on all Legislators for the duration of the 90 day Session.
Things you should be doing and actions you need to be taking NOW:
- Determine who your elected officials are (most gun owners don't know)
- Call, write and email your elected officials - old fashioned "paper letters" really stand out
- Make an appointment to meet, and actually speak face to face with your elected officials
- Join the AGC Legislative E-mail list to stay informed of the latest developments
- Take action when requested to by the AGC or similar organizations
- Use the AGC "Email your Legislators" system to send emails to every member of the Maryland General Assembly. Be sure to be respectful and courteous at all times. Click here to Email your Legislators
- Plan now to attend the hearings in Annapolis and support those groups offering testimony
- Encourage your friends and fellow club members to do all of the above
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Volunteers Needed to Support AGC's Legislative Effort
We need reliable dedicated volunteers to assist in doing internet research and compiling data for presentation to the Maryland General Assembly in support of our 2nd Amendment rights.
The world of politics is a high intensity time sensitive environment where getting there first with the most is critical.
Projects are usually short notice, immediate need operations. Volunteers must be willing to lose some sleep and time they would have otherwise spent on the range. Computer skills with Microsoft Office Software is a plus. Volunteers to work area gun shows are also needed.
If you are the type of person who walks the walk instead of just talking the talk, we need to hear from you. Annoy a liberal, stand up for your rights! Click here to volunteer.
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 E-mail Blitz - Send 500,000 Emails to the Legislature
The recent tragedy in Newtown is being used as an excuse to advance legislation intended to ban many types of firearms and magazines.
Your legislators need to hear from you and AGC has provided an effective tool to help Maryland's gun owners.
The "Email your Legislators" feature on the AGC Website's Legislative News page is simple to use and very effective. In no more time than it takes to send a single email, you can send up to 188 individual personal emails, one to each and every member of the Maryland General Assembly.
Your message does not need to be long or in great detail. Short and to the point is fine. Save the long detailed explanations for your "on paper" letters.
So far this year, over 1,600 emails have been sent. This equates to approximately 8 emails per legislator.
Let's Blitz the Legislature with 500,000 emails telling them that we won't stand idle, and we should not be blamed for what someone else did.
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Task Force Report:
Access to Regulated Firearms by Persons With Mental Illness
At the outset, it appeared that the Task Force might be little more than a rubber stamp. During the first meeting, some members made it clear that they had come with an agenda.
The representative from the Maryland Attorney General's office opened with a recommendation that the current law requiring a minimum of 30 days confinement in a mental institution be reduced in order to more easily prohibit a person from owning a firearm. The Chief of the Frederick Police Department wildly exaggerated how often police officers are killed (no reference was made to persons with mental illness). The representative of the Prince George's County States Attorney wanted to expand the recommendations to include non-regulated firearms, which exceeded the Task Force's authority.
AGC challenged the agenda these persons in an email to the committee chairmen. Click here.
During the remainder of the first meeting it became clear the both the mental health professionals and mental health advocates were more interested in curing persons suffering with mental health issues, than supporting gun control and confiscation. Some viewed gun restrictions as ineffective and others as counterproductive because gun owners, who might otherwise seek professional help would not, because they feared losing their gun rights.
Amid great but somewhat short lived fanfare, the media pounced on selective sections of the report to pander to the false promise of gun control and essentially ignored the real focus of the report which addressed mental health concerns. It seems that the media was expecting the Task Force to produce findings more in keeping with the anti-gun agenda of certain elected official who wanted to further exploit the Newtown tragedy. Many reporters called wanting inside information on what the report would say. They did not get it. All inquiries were referred to the committee chairmen.
The Task Force was required to submit a report on December 31, 2012, and this date created many scheduling problems due to the cluster of holidays at the end of the year. The schedule was further impacted when we were compelled to cancel a meeting due to "Superstorm Sandy." Draft versions of the report were distributed to the committee members, but due to time constraints, comments from the committee members were never compiled and distributed to the full committee for a comprehensive review and comparison.
At the present time, AGC is still reviewing the published "final report" and comparing it to previous versions. This is necessary because the committee members never met in full committee to review and vote on the published version prior to its public release.
The committee meets again on January 24, 2013. Meetings are open to the public.
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Murder by Proxy: How America Went Postal
 | | Murder by Proxy: How America Went Postal FULL |
This documentary studies the reason WHY mass shootings occur in our society by investigating what drives persons to turn to violence as a means to address their problems.
It does not push gun control or gun bans as a solution.
This movie is also available on U-Tube, Netflix and possibly on other video services as well.
Website for the movie with DVD purchase option.
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Major Changes in Maryland General Assembly's Website
The Maryland General Assembly (MGA) website has been completely updated with a new look and many new features. Most of the old features still remain, albeit in a different location and format. If you have placed bookmarks on your Internet browser, you will need to update them.
A significant update enables visitors to select and track bills of interest; daily updates on the selected bills are emailed to the user on a daily basis. See the link below for instructions on using the MGA's website features.
The AGC's Legislative News page has already been updated to reflect the changes on the MGA's website. All of the links have been updated and tested. We strongly recommend that you invest some time exploring the features and links on our Legislative News page.
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Regulated Firearm Purchases Reach Record Levels in Maryland
Email from Maryland State Police to Regulated Firearms Dealers:
Regulated Firearms Dealers, We are currently receiving a significantly higher number of the Maryland State Police Application And Affidavit To Purchase A Regulated Firearm 77R-1, 2 & 3, than we have ever received in the history of the Firearms Registration Section. Due to the upcoming Holidays and Service Reduction days we are asking for your understanding and patience as we complete our criminal background checks. Processing of the applications may take additional time. Prior to releasing Regulated Firearms to your customers, Regulated Firearms Dealers are reminded that the Maryland State Police is the Point of Contact for all NICS checks related to Regulated Firearms and that NICS checks are required for compliance of the Brady Law. Please advise your customers that we are working diligently to fulfill our obligations. -- Cpl. Jason Edwards Corporal Jason Edwards Maryland State Police Licensing Division Firearms Registration Section 1111 Reisterstown Road Pikesville, Maryland 21208 |
 Shop Rite's Self-serving Gun Buy Back
On Saturday, December 15th, Baltimore witnessed another gun buy-back scheme, but this one was actually little more than a publicity stunt. The buy-back promoters were given more TV air time than they could possibly have purchased for the cost of the $100 Gift Cards they traded for guns. Most of which were rusted closet queens which had probably not seen a drop of oil for decades.
AGC's LVP turned in a broken non-functioning Italian derringer which was missing essential parts and amounted to about 10 ounces of scrap steel. ShopRite paid $100 for it. During the check-in process, one city police officer noted the Empty Chamber Indicators, while the other officer took notice of the AGC LVP's Certified NRA Instructor collar pin and commented: "I like that pin."  Note: The buyback was not related to the event in Newtown, CN. |
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Utah Concealed Carry Permit Class
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Administrative Check-in: 8:15-8:30 AM / Utah CFP Course: 8:30 AM-1:30 PM
Baltimore County Game & Fish Protective Association
3400 Northwind Road, Parkville, MD 21234
www.bcgf.org
Training and administrative services shall be rendered by IOTA Firearms & Security Training Academy. The course fee of $75 per person includes the onsite services of certified fingerprinting, quality passport photos, document copying, shipping and handling to Utah B.C.I.
Please refer to the Utah CFP brochure for pertinent course, minimum applicant requirements and permit details.
In addition to the course fee, you will need to bring a separate credit card or check payment per applicant in the amount of $51.00 due on date of training. This amount satisfies the background and application fees required by Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification. Please make checks payable to "Utah BCI". For additional information visit the Utah BCI website http://publicsafety.utah.gov/bci/ .
The following options will assist with completing your registration, which includes prepayment of the course fee:
A.) Register online at http://www.iotafast.com/
B.) Register by phone, 410-462-4682 (Visa / MasterCard / Discover); or
C.) Register by personal check or money order payable to The IOTA Group and mail to: PO Box 16334, Roland Park MD 21210-9998. Mailed payments are to be received 3 days prior to the course date.
You are encouraged to secure a seat at your earliest possible convenience, as these courses have been extremely popular and fill quickly. Once registered, an email confirmation will be sent to your attention.
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 NRA's Armed Citizen Reports |
Keep Your Email Address and Profile Up to Date!
You can update your email address and interest profile (sublists such as AGC Newsletter, Gun Shows, Bus Trips, Hunting, Concealed Carry, etc.) at any time by clicking on the "Join Email List Icon below. A as current list member, you will be sent an automated email asking you to log on to the server and update your information.
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John H. Josselyn, Legislative Vice President
Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore, Inc.
P.O. Box 20102
Towson, MD 21284-0102
410-296-3947
Email: lvp@associatedgunclubs.org
Webpage: www.associatedgunclubs.org
Article 1. That all Government of right originates from the People, is founded in compact only, and instituted solely for the good of the whole; and they have, at all times, the inalienable right to alter, reform or abolish their Form of Government in such manner as they may deem expedient. |
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