[b]Despair Fills Md. Gun Dealers[/b]

The nation's first state law requiring all new handguns to be outfitted with built-in trigger locks will take effect in Maryland tomorrow, a measure gun control advocates predict will save lives but one that has gun dealers fearing for their livelihoods.

Only six models of handguns and integrated trigger locks now on the market would meet the law's standards, and manufacturers of other models have started cutting back their distribution in Maryland, several dealers said yesterday.

Sanford Abrams, of the Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association, said limiting the sales options to such a small array of models will be painful, and he offered a gloomy forecast for the dealers' long-term survival.

"It will have a disastrous effect," he said. "Companies are not and will not be compliant. There will be hundreds of models that will no longer be available."

The dealers are hoping that legal action or the party change in the Maryland governor's office will help blunt the impact of the provision. And a spokeswoman for Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) yesterday repeated Ehrlich's campaign pledge to "take a fresh look at this law, as well as all laws surrounding the sale of guns."

But dealers were not optimistic that such efforts would prove meaningful. "Short of seeing the General Assembly pass a new law, I don't see a lot of hope for intervening," Abrams said.

The gun control advocates who aggressively lobbied to see the measure put in place said they are not overly concerned about gun dealers' potential hardships.

"How do you balance saving the life of a child against the prospects that sales might decrease somewhat?" asked Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery), one of the chief sponsors of the measure. "To me, when you look at the balance, it comes out heavily on the side of saving lives."

The trigger-lock provision was part of a raft of gun control measures the Maryland General Assembly passed in 2000 despite bitter opposition from the rural reaches of the state and the National Rifle Association, which enlisted its 50,000 Maryland members to phone lawmakers just before key votes.

Passage came on the strength of support from Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) and from legislators in the state's larger, more liberal-leaning counties, and it prompted President Bill Clinton to make his first and only trip to a state capital to attend a bill signing.

At the time, Clinton called the law a model for how government can help eliminate accidents that can occur when children play with guns. It will do so, advocates said, by limiting the sale of handguns to those with an integrated locking system that can limit the use of the weapon to people who hold the key or know the combination.

"This will save lives," said Matt Fenton, president of Marylanders Against Handgun Abuse Inc. "It's the way of the future."

[url=www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56389-2002Dec30.html]Full Article[/url]

Stock up on long arms.

Are there any major fault lines near Maryland? What I'm asking is, what are the chances of Maryland falling into the ocean?

Only six models of handguns and integrated trigger locks now on the market would meet the law's standards, and manufacturers of other models have started cutting back their distribution in Maryland, several dealers said yesterday.


Anybody know what they are?

Heheh.... im sure that could be arranged...

[}:D]

Maryland is a state where most of the workforce is gevernment employees.  The typical Gvernment employee is a single female with children.  Need I say more?  Ehrlich is too little, too late.  I moved to PA for this very reason.  I recommend that the Md crew move out and let the Kommies have it.  It will collapse ofits own weight...    Ops

Been there done that, moved to the freestate of vA and got my permit.....F#ck Maryland!!

That sucks, I may be taking a job on Baltimore this year.

If I take the job can I keep my guns (FAL, AR, AK, SKS, SAR-8) and high-cap magazines?

Anything else I should know?

If you take a job in Baltimore, it isn't too far to drive to live in southern Pennsylvania. Here you can have all your toys and CCW too!