ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Gun safety advocates and Second Amendment supporters locked horns in Annapolis Tuesday as the first hearings for a controversial gun bill that attempts to circumvent the new reality created by a Supreme Court ruling that struck down Maryland's conceal carry permit restrictions.
Since the Supreme Court decision in June 2022, Maryland State Police have issued at least 80,000 new permits to citizens who want to carry guns for any reason. Critics claim so many armed citizens walking around amounts to a “wild west” scenario on the streets.
“What kind of world do we want to live in?” asked Montgomery County Senator Jeff Waldstreicher. "A state awash in guns, armed to the teeth an drowning in concealed carry permits?”
Waldstreicher is among the sponsors of Senate Bill 1, which seeks to severely restrict where tens of thousands of newly-minted legal permit holders may carry their guns.
Second Amendment supporters flooded into Annapolis Tuesday to oppose the bill, saying that most restrictions on where guns may be carried by permitted citizens are unconstitutional.
"This is taking guns. It attacks the law-abiding citizen," said Galen Muhammad of Annapolis.
Second Amendment activist Paul Brockman said Senate Bill 1 would effectively prevent people from protecting themselves.
"Like a single mom who we know who has a crazy ex-husband who tried to kill her," Brockman explained. "She got her permit in an expedited fashion and that person is still out there. So this bill would limit her ability to defend herself against her crazy ex-husband.”
Permit holders in Maryland must pass enhanced background checks and complete 16 hours of training.
Senate Bill 1 would prohibit guns near a long list of locations like theaters, stadiums, parks and schools. Notably, prohibited locations would also include anyone else’s private property unless the gun permit holder had written permission to carry a gun at the location.
Gun rights advocates say that is virtually everywhere and therefore unconstitutional.
The debate is one measure of how dramatically the Supreme Court has upended gun control nationally
New York and New Jersey have already passed similar measures restricting where permit holders can bring their guns.
Both states were promptly sued by gun rights groups and a federal judge is already prohibiting New Jersey from enforcing its new law while the case is decided, which could mean yet another review by the Supreme Court.
The very first bill proposed by lawmakers focuses on gun safety and restrictions on where thousands with concealed weapon permits can actually carry them.