Guns
Enough
is enough.
Gun
violence must stop. It's time that we take responsible action to protect our
children in school and the rest of us in society.
Just
as we require drivers to take driver education courses and to pass an exam to
obtain a driver's license, so too should we require gun owners to take a gun
safety course and pass a gun safety exam in order to
own a gun.
Just
as we require vehicle owners to maintain a vehicle registration and pass an
environmental emissions test every other year, so too should we require gun
owners to register their firearms with the State of Maryland
and demonstrate every other year that they continue to have the gun in their
possession. Gun owners should be expected to know where their firearms
are at all times and to keep them secure. The Second Amendment may
guarantee Americans the right to bear arms, but so too do Marylanders have a
right to being safe in their schools, homes, and communities.
A
RESOLUTION AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE
WHEREAS
firearms have taken the lives of far too many Americans; and,
WHEREAS
firearms have increasingly been used in the perpetration of national tragedies;
and,
WHEREAS
current firearm regulations have proven insufficient at thwarting public
massacres; and,
WHEREAS
encouraging responsibility and accountability among gun owners is in the
interests of all
Marylanders;
and,
THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED:
- THAT to provide
for responsible gun ownership in Maryland, all firearms will be registered
in a statewide database and that all firearm registrations will be
regularly renewed on a biannual (24 months) basis by providing physical
proof of continued ownership of the firearm.
- THAT all
firearms lacking registration with the state or having expired
registrations be surrendered to the State and that the State proactively
seek to retrieve and confiscate all firearms with expired registrations
exceeding six months.
- THAT every
firearm recovered from the scene of a crime or discovered to be in the
possession of a convicted felon is cross-listed with this firearms
registry database.
- THAT to penalize
straw purchasing of firearms, the owner of every firearm used in a
homicide or robbery be penalized in accordance with the determination of
the Secretary for the crime regardless of their (non)-involvement in the
crime.
- THAT gun owners
pass a gun safety course and exam to obtain a firearm license.
- THAT a tax be imposed on bullets to fund a buy-back program to reduce the number of assault weapons in Maryland.
- THAT a Bullet Identification Number (BIN) be placed on every bullet sold in Maryland and that the purchaser of those bullets be kept in a statewide registry for law enforcement purposes.
- THAT all firearms be kept in a safe at home.
- THAT all firearms be insured.