MD - Gun seizure prompts House Bill 55

[Steven Mace]

Thursday, January 17, 2002

Gun seizure prompts House Bill 55

MICHAEL A. SAWYERS
Times-News Staff Writer

CRESAPTOWN -- In 1983, at the age of 23, Larry Dicken got in a shoving match resulting from a property boundary dispute and was convicted of misdemeanor battery, as was the other party involved in the mutual confrontation.

Because of that, 18 years later -- in August of this past year -- Maryland State Police came to Dicken's Louise Drive home and confiscated all 14 of his firearms.

The firearms were confiscated by what state police call the Cease Fire Unit.

"The attorney general has advised state police to interpret existing federal law in such a way as to allow for these types of confiscations of guns from law-abiding citizens. It's unacceptable," said Delegate Kevin Kelly. The delegate said SWAT teams are used to retrieve guns in some situations.

Kelly and Dicken are close friends. When police told Dicken what was coming down, he called Kelly, an attorney, who was present for much of the gun confiscation. State police took Dicken's handguns, but allowed Kelly to take possession of his friend's longguns, the delegate said.

Kelly, a staunch defender of the rights of gun owners, touts the fact that he is the only member of the Maryland General Assembly to receive Defender of Freedom awards from the National Rifle Association and the Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association. The Allegany County Democrat has introduced House Bill 55 to clarify when gun confiscations are legal. The bill's four co-sponsors include Speaker of the House Casper Taylor Jr. and Delegate George Edwards.

Kelly said the 1983 assault conviction resulted in a $100 fine and a 30-day suspended jail sentence for Dicken. But because a jail term of one year or more could have been imposed, his firearms were confiscated.

Dicken's guns were confiscated after he was rejected in an attempt to purchase a handgun at a Hancock dealer, even though he had successfully purchased other handguns there in 1999 and 2000, Kelly said.

Kelly's House Bill 55 would prevent state officials from enforcing the federal statute and would clearly state that anyone who actually was sentenced to a year or more in jail would be forbidden from ever again owning or possessing a gun in Maryland.

"The federal statute does not have to be enforced anyway," Kelly said. "The wording is that it could be enforced in states, not that it shall be enforced."

Kelly said he is not surprised at the current enforcement scenario, and that it is in line with opinions expressed by Attorney General Joseph Curran in his document "A Farewell To Arms," which deals with gun laws and gun ownership in Maryland.

"I was shocked when the police said they were going to take my guns," Dicken said, admitting that he cursed at the two plainclothes officers last August after they told him why they were at his house. "Then I called Kevin."

Police also confiscated a handgun registered to Dicken's wife, Kathy. Eventually, all guns were returned after being put in Kathy's name. They are kept in a cabinet to which Larry says he does not have a key.

"I'd get five years in jail if I shot a bullet at a tin can, and my wife would be charged for letting me do it," he said. "If I didn't know Kevin, we probably would never have seen those guns again."

A call Tuesday by the Times-News to Lt. Bud Frank, Maryland State Police, Pikesville, was not returned.

http://www.times-news.com/stories/2002/january/day17/1293569.html

Steve Mace

[Steven Mace]

January 31, 2002

Legislators up in arms about gun policy

By Margie Hyslop
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

ANNAPOLIS — Maryland House and Senate leaders want to stop a Maryland State Police crackdown on gun owners convicted of minor and, in some cases, long-past offenses.

"We need to concentrate our police power on drug dealers and current lawbreakers, and not look for work that's not adversely affecting our society," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., a Democrat who represents Prince George's, Calvert and Anne Arundel counties.

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. has advised state police to use the federal law — with a lower threshold than state law — to take guns and deny applications for gun purchases and permits.

The federal law disqualifies persons from having guns if they've been convicted of an offense punishable by more than a year in jail, or a state offense — including misdemeanors and common-law offenses — punishable by more than two years.

The range of offenses punishable by more than two years is broad and includes common-law offenses, such as blasphemy and disorderly conduct. So disqualifying offenders from gun possession on the basis of the maximum sentence they could have received imposes the same penalty for nonviolent or petty violations as for serious ones.

Still, Mr. Curran points to a 1996 Maryland Court of Appeals decision that allowed the maximum, rather than actual, sentence to determine disqualification.

Delegate Kevin Kelly and House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr., both Allegany County Democrats, are co-sponsoring a bill that would prohibit the state from using the federal law to disqualify gun owners. Under the measure, the state could deny permits to, or confiscate firearms from, persons who actually received a jail term of more than one year.

The issue will go first to the House of Delegates, where the Judiciary Committee soon will schedule a hearing.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Delegate Joseph F. Vallario Jr. said he is "looking strongly" at supporting Mr. Kelly's bill.

Mr. Vallario, a Prince George's County Democrat, said Marylanders should not be automatically denied the right to carry or buy a gun unless they have served a sentence of a year or more.

"Jaywalking at a high rate of speed carries a penalty of a year. We don't have offenses that carry less," Mr. Vallario said.

Judges need wide latitude to sentence fairly, Mr. Vallario said, and for that reason disqualification should be tied to the sentence served.

The Washington Times reported Tuesday that Maryland residents — including a Baltimore man who was named a state citizen of the year — have been denied permits or had their guns seized for decades-old misdemeanors for which they served little or no time.

Delegate Dana Dembrow said basing disqualification on the possible sentence goes "way too far."

"There's a flaw in the law that ought to be changed," said Mr. Dembrow, Montgomery Democrat.

He also said that state police plans to comb databases for persons with disqualifying offenses is misguided.

"I don't like it. We need to focus police resources on people who are a danger to the community," Mr. Dembrow said.

Such an effort, Mr. Kelly said, is "going to criminalize a lot of law-abiding citizens, and I would not be surprised if some law enforcement officers got swept in, too."

Capt. Jack Simpson, state police director of firearms enforcement, said the computer search for disqualifying gun owners was his idea and it "became a priority."

"If [police superintendent Col. David] Mitchell says, 'Make this happen,' I'm going to do my best to do it," Capt. Simpson said.

Meanwhile, Capt. Simpson said, he is looking for funding for the initiative as part of a bigger statewide computer-modernization project.

Capt. Simpson said the Department of State Police opposes Mr. Kelly's bill, which would forestall the initiative.

Senate Judicial Proceedings Chairman Walter M. Baker, Upper Eastern Shore Democrat, said the state has to be careful about issuing permits to carry a gun.

But Mr. Baker said that persons such as Maryland citizen of the year Donald G. Arnold of Baltimore's Highlandtown, whose story was told in The Washington Times on Tuesday, should be able to get their records cleared so they are not disqualified from having a gun.

"One of the big problems today with our law is, we've broken down the distinction between a felony and a misdemeanor," Mr. Baker said.

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20020131-701562.htm

Steve Mace