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Health & Fitness

Gun-Control Fails Again

A gunman killed two people, and then himself, at a shopping mall in Columbia, Maryland last Saturday. The killer, identified today as Darion Marcus Aguilar, of College Park, entered the mall at approximately 11am and opened fire. By the time police arrived on the scene he had turned the gun on himself.

According to an Associated Press report (January 26), mall customers and store employees were sent "scrambling for cover." One witness, Joan Harding, hid with her husband, David, completely helpless. They remained in hiding until police found them. "My husband said, 'Get down!' and the girl that worked in the store said, 'Get in the back,'" Ms. Harding told the AP.

Another witness, Tonya Broughton, was visiting the mall with a friend when the shooting started. "The only thing I heard was all the people running and screaming and saying 'There's a shooter! There's a shooter!'," she said. The two hid, helplessly, in a Victoria's Secret.

"Laura McKindles of Columbia works at a kiosk in the mall," reports the AP. "She said she heard between eight and 10 gunshots, followed by people running and screaming. She ran into the backroom of a perfume store and locked the door."

Running. Screaming. Hiding. Terrified. Naively hoping that a locked door will keep them safe. Thanks to Maryland's anti-gun laws, that's all a would-be victim can hope for. Until the police arrive, of course, and tell them it's safe, that they can stop cowering defenselessly, fearing for their lives. Sadly, that didn't work out so well for two who died on Saturday.

Maryland, like other states, allows residents to carry a concealed handgun — but on a "may-issue" basis only. This compared to the "shall-issue" law that exists in states like New Hampshire. The wording of the law makes all the difference in the world: "shall issue" means the state has to give someone a concealed carry license, provided they meet the criteria set down by the legislature of that state.

"May issue", however, means the local executive authority, typically a police chief or county sheriff, has the final say. The end result is that many people are arbitrarily denied a license to carry a concealed handgun. 

This regime created a "rationing system" in Maryland. A federal judge ruled that unconstitutional in 2012, but the "may issue" requirement still stands; there is still no guarantee that, once a resident has jumped through all the bureaucratic hurdles, he or she will in fact have their right to carry a gun for personal protection respected by the state. As Wikipedia describes it, "While technically May-Issue under state law,...Maryland...[is a] No-Issue jurisdiction[] in practice, with governmental policy directing officials with discretionary power to rarely or never issue licenses." [Last emphasis mine]

Openly carrying a firearm is illegal in most public places in Maryland.

Maryland is very hostile to firearms, and firearm-owners. Last October a new gun law in that state went into effect that Eye on Annapolis described as "one of the nation's toughest" — banning 45 types of so-called "assault weapons" and prohibiting Marylanders from purchasing magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, as well as placing greater restrictions on future gun-buyers, including a "more stringent" background check, finger-printing, and gun-safety training.

The state is also hostile to gun-owners from other states! Florida resident and gun-owner John Filippidis was recently traveling home from a wedding in New Jersey when he was followed and eventually stopped and detained by the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.

The Personal Liberty Digest reports that "when the Maryland police pulled him over, they took his license and registration back to the patrol cruiser, then returned to the car and ordered him to get out." Mr. Filippidis told the Tampa Tribune that the officer then demanded to know where his gun was. "At home in my safe," he said. His wife, Kally, was questioned, and searched. His 17-year-old daughter was searched.

The officer told Mr. Filippidis, "You're a liar." His car was emptied on the side of the highway and searched, even the engine compartment and inside of the door panels, while the family was separated and held in different patrol cars. No gun was found. That's because Mr. Filippidis wasn't lying; his gun was at home, in Florida.

But that didn't matter. Mr. Filippidis is a gun-owner, and in the People's Republic of Maryland that means he deserves to be treated like the lowest form of criminal. (How did the MTAP even know John Filippidis owns a gun? They're not saying, but clearly Big Brother is watching!) 

A majority of Maryland's politicians have no respect for people's right to defend themselves, which is why everyone in the Mall in Columbia was disarmed and left defenseless last Saturday. A madman who didn't give a damn about the law confidently walked in and gunned two of them down while everyone else ran, screamed, cowered and hid, utterly helpless.

A survey of police officers last March revealed that over 90 percent of them support the right of law-abiding citizens to carry a concealed handgun, and over 86 percent believe a legally-armed citizen present at a public shooting would reduce or even prevent casualties. Rather than trust the people, the State of Maryland apparently prefers to see them dead. 
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