March 24,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The handgun used in a shooting at a Maryland high school was legally owned by the gunman’s father, authorities said Wednesday. A reader replied to the sad story ,“I don’t understand. If a law was passed to outlaw a 17 year old from owning a gun how ever did he have a gun? He was breaking the law? What about the gun free school laws? Do you think he broke those too? How crazy is that?!? Why, if people keep breaking laws like that, how are we ever to keep our schools safe? I’m confused.”
Maryland generally prohibits any person under age 21 from possessing any “regulated firearm” (handgun or assault weapon).1 Maryland also prohibits any person from transferring a regulated firearm to a transferee who the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under 21 years of age.
Maryland also prohibits any person from selling, renting or transferring ammunition for a regulated firearm to a person under age 21, or any ammunition to a person under age 18.3 Maryland also prohibits the sale or transfer of a rifle or shotgun to a person under age 18.
Maryland law provides that a person “may not store or leave a loaded firearm in a location where the person knew or should have known that an unsupervised child would gain access to the firearm.”1 This section does not apply if:
The child’s access is supervised by an individual age 18 or older;
The child’s access was obtained as a result of unlawful entry;
The firearm is in the possession or control of a law enforcement officer while the officer is engaged in official duties; or
The child has a certificate of firearm and hunter safety.2
State administrative regulations may impose storage requirements in certain locations.
Federal law :
Dealers may not sell or deliver a handgun or ammunition for a handgun to any person the dealer has reasonable cause to believe is under age 21.
Unlicensed persons may not sell, deliver or otherwise transfer a handgun or handgun ammunition to any person the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under age 18, with certain exceptions
Restricting gun access will save lives. I choose lives over amendments.
any proof?
Meanwhile, thousands of kids, spurred on and sponsored by Leftist organizers (including the Communist Party, USA, the local chapter of the most prolific mass murder movement of the 20th century, with 100+ million scalps to its credit) are protesting against guns, the NRA, Trump, etc. with little apparent concern for the fact that the school security of Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS is still under the command of the feckless, narcissistic and incompetent Sheriff Scott Israel.
@12.45pm. Just like restricting drug access, right? You lefties love to argue the futility of banning drugs but you’re all over banning guns. I will agree with you that drug laws are useless and simply drive supply and demand into the black market. The exact same thing will happen with guns.
Sensible gun laws at the federal level and local are all these people are looking for. They advocate moving beyond political party affiliation and to come together as Americans to do something meaningful. That’s what I plan to do.
K, your ignorance of world history is showing. If your a product of the Ridgewood schools, I want my $110 million back. One can point to countless examples of government slaughter of innocents (due to having all/most of the weapons). Just in the 20th Century alone, please reference 60 million dead in China 1958-62, 2-7 million dead in the Ukraine during the Holomodor, the Holocaust. (Jews were disarmed in Nazi Germany), etc., etc., etc. Thanks, I’ll keep my Bill of Rights (intact) and the lives it protects. The authorities had all the laws they needed in the Parkland case already on the books and they blew it. If you want stricter gun laws, move to Venezuela. The weather is great and you’ll be sure to lose those extra pounds from the winter on the “Maduro Diet”.
What more sensible law is needed than the two laws (at least) broken by the most recent shooter? He was not legally allowed to carry the weapon he had. What difference will more laws make? “Well now it’s really super illegal!” He would have broken four or five laws instead of two or three? Do you realize how crazy it is to think that will change a single thing? Secure the schools like we secure jewelry stores. What’s more valuable? Your kids or your diamond ring?
That Bill of Rights is regulated my freedom of speech prohibits me from yelling fire in a theater or spouting hate speech. Why do you assume your 2nd amendment has no limits? If you think you need an arsenal of weapons to protect your family you might want to think about where you live. There are plenty of studies that show restrictions to guns saves lives. Just a hint you won’t find it on the NRA a organization that actually tries to sell itself as,a civil rights organization but is nothing more that a overly powerful lobbying group who have many of congressmen in their clutches.
like Chicago or Mexico ? , fyi NRA does not even make the top 10 in lobbying money
US Chamber of Commerce
$82,190,000
National Assn of Realtors
$54,530,861
Business Roundtable
$27,380,000
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America
$25,847,500
Blue Cross/Blue Shield
$24,330,306
American Hospital Assn
$22,074,214
American Medical Assn
$21,535,000
Alphabet Inc
$18,150,000
AT&T Inc
$16,780,000
Boeing Co
$16,740,000
Open Society Policy Center
$16,110,000
DowDuPont
$15,877,520
National Assn of Broadcasters
$15,460,000
Comcast Corp
$15,310,000
Lockheed Martin
$14,464,290
Amazon.com
$13,000,000
Southern Co
$12,970,000
National Retail Federation
$12,890,000
NCTA The Internet & Television Assn
$12,790,000
Oracle Corp
$12,385,000
Top 50 Lobbying Spenders of 2016
Client
2016 Spending
2015 Spending
2015 Rank
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
$103,950,000
$84,730,000
1
National Association of Realtors
$64,821,111
$37,788,407
2
Blue Cross Blue Shield
$25,006,109
$23,702,049
3
American Hospital Association
$20,970,809
$20,687,935
7
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America
$19,730,000
$18,920,000
9
American Medical Association
$19,410,000
$21,930,000
4
Boeing
$17,020,000
$21,921,000
5
National Association of Broadcasters
$16,438,000
$17,400,000
10
AT&T
$16,370,000
$16,370,000
13
Business Roundtable
$15,700,000
$19,250,000
8
Alphabet
$15,430,000
$16,660,000
12
Comcast
$14,330,000
$15,680,000
14
Southern Co.
$13,900,000
$12,860,000
18
Dow Chemical
$13,635,982
$10,820,000
26
Lockheed Martin
$13,615,811
$13,954,053
17
NCTA – The Internet and Telephone Assoc.
$13,420,000
$14,120,000
16
FedEx
$12,541,000
$12,405,835
20
Northrop Grumman
$12,050,000
$11,020,000
24
Exxon Mobil
$11,840,000
$11,980,000
21
Amazon
$11,354,000
$9,435,000
34
CTIA
$10,970,000
$10,150,000
29
General Dynamics
$10,739,944
$10,259,890
28
Verizon Communications
$10,080,000
$11,430,000
23
Altria Group
$10,060,000
$9,630,000
32
Amgen
$9,860,000
$10,525,000
27
Koch Industries
$9,840,000
$10,830,000
25
American Bankers Association
$9,831,000
$12,690,000
19
Pfizer
$9,750,000
$9,417,650
35
Prudential Financial
$9,400,000
$7,962,500
47
Biotechnology Innovation Organization
$9,230,000
$8,350,000
42
United Technologies
$9,165,000
$11,470,000
22
American Chemistry Council
$9,020,000
$10,050,000
30
Royal Dutch Shell
$8,990,000
$8,700,000
37
AARP
$8,710,000
$7,559,000
54
Microsoft
$8,710,000
$8,490,000
39
Facebook
$8,692,000
$9,850,000
31
Edison Electric Institute
$8,620,000
$8,350,000
42
Oracle
$8,620,000
$8,470,000
40
General Motors
$8,500,000
$9,120,000
36
National Association of Manufacturers
$8,490,014
$16,950,000
11
National Amusements (CBS & Viacom)
$8,441,000
$7,980,000
46
T-Mobile
$8,089,900
$6,127,000
66
Bayer
$7,990,000
$7,730,000
51
Coca-Cola
$7,930,000
$8,670,000
38
American Airlines
$7,870,000
$6,600,000
61
United Parcel Service
$7,767,848
$8,155,856
45
Chevron
$7,470,000
$7,200,000
56
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
$7,452,500
$7,640,000
53
Securities Industry & Financial Market Assoc.
$7,400,000
$7,770,000
50
AbbVie
$7,260,000
$5,220,000
88
Data provided to The Hill by the Center for Responsive Politics, opensecrets.org
Our attitude about owning guns needs to change. Watch shows on NRA TV. They glorify guns. Video games as well. Some movies too. I don’t consider myself a prude and I believe many are exposed to violence at too early an age.
9 39. Agree. Protect our children like we protect our possessions. Arm the schools. Pay for trained smart and good security. Let the teachers teach, the kids be kids and protect them.
Countries with stricter gun control laws do not have mass shootings to the degree we do or not at all. The NRA may not be at the top of the list in lobbying expenditures but they get more bang for the buck because their supporters are often one issue voters. Their money is targeted at politicians in areas most likely to be influenced. The activism coming from the students is working. Florida has made changes in their gun laws under a governor who was immoveable on the issue. Our founding fathers never intended for the 2nd amendment to allow for civilians to be walking around with military grade weapons to be used on their own people. They were not omniscient. They made laws for the times they lived in. The NRA was formed after the civil war because of the terrible shooting skills of the soldiers and the tremendous waste of ammunition. 80 percent of us want sensible gun legislation. That makes us the overwhelming majority and we cross all party lines. Our elected officials need to be listening.
Myth: Countries with strict gun control have less crime
Fact: In America, we can demonstrate that private ownership of guns reduces crime, but from country to country there is no correlation between gun availability and the violent crime rate. Consider this:
Crime Rate
High
Low
Gun Availability
High
United States
Switzerland
Low
Mexico
Japan
Or, to use detailed data, we can contrast the per capita homicide rate with the per capita gun ownership rate between different industrialized countries (see graph below). Contrasting the data shows zero correlation between the availability of guns and the overall homicide rate.
Fact: Countries with the strictest gun-control laws also tended to have the highest homicide rates. 1
Fact: According to the U.N., as of 2005, Scotland was the most violent country in the developed world, with people three times more likely to be assaulted than in America. Violent crime there has doubled over the last 20 years. 3% of Scots had been victims of assault compared with 1.2% in America. 2
Fact: “… the major surveys completed in the past 20 years or more provides no evidence of any relationship between the total number of legally held firearms in society and the rate of armed crime. Nor is there a relationship between the severity of controls imposed in various countries or the mass of bureaucracy involved with many control systems with the apparent ease of access to firearms by criminals and terrorists.” 3
Fact: Even if we examine just firearm ownership and firearm homicide by country, we see no correlation between the two. 4
Fact: Switzerland has relatively lenient gun control for Europe 5, and has the third-lowest homicide rate of the top nine major European countries, and the same per capita rate as England and Wales, where restrictions are much tighter. 6
Fact: Indeed, the Swiss basically have a military rifle in nearly every closest. “Everybody who has served in the army is allowed to keep their personal weapon, even after the end of their military service.” 7
Fact: “We don’t have as many guns [in Brazil] as the United States, but we use them more.” 8 Brazil has mandatory licensing, registration, and maximum personal ownership quotas. It now bans any new sales to private citizens. Their homicide rate is almost three (3) times higher than the U.S. 9
Fact: In Canada around 1920, before there was any form of gun control, their homicide rate was 7% of the U.S rate. By 1986, and after significant gun control legislation, Canada’s homicide rate was 35% of the U.S. rate – a significant increase. 10 In 2003, Canada had a violent crime rate more than double that of the U.S. (963 vs. 475 per 100,000). 11
Fact: One study of Canadian firearm law and homicide rates spanning 34 years “failed to demonstrate a beneficial association between legislation and firearm homicide rates” for three major gun control bills. 12
Fact: Many of the countries with the strictest gun control have the highest rates of violent crime. Australia and England, which have virtually banned gun ownership, have the highest rates of robbery, sexual assault, and assault with force of the top 17 industrialized countries. 13
Fact: The crime rate is 66% higher in four Canadian Prairie Provinces than in the northern US states across the border. 14
Fact: Strict controls over existing arms failed in Finland. Despite needs-based licensing, storage laws and transportation restrictions, 15 Finland experienced a multiple killing school shooting in 2007. 16
Let’s see liberal Hollywood take the lead then, by not making/showing movies and TV shows about violence crime with guns. Why aren’t the Upper West Siders and Brooklyn coffee house crowds demanding this?
Forget banning guns… Lets just make MURDER illegal.
That will solve the problem.
.
Its so simple.
I wonder why nobody thought of this sooner.
9:51 and 7:05,
You make simple arguments designed to hide the fact that 1) the NRA is a lobby group which gets its funds from its millions of law-abiding CITIZEN members (who vote accordingly), not a corporate treasury or union dues forcibly extracted from workers and 2) we already had in place all the laws necessary to have prevented Parkland, but the local and Federal government blew it badly in about a dozen different ways. The “March to Consolidate Coercive Power in the Hands of the Corrupt, Incompetent and Apathetic” was a Leftist-organized exploitation of poorly-informed kids to stifle reasoned, fact-based debate on this topic. They noticably excluded Andrew Pollack and Parkland students who deviated from the anti-gun myopia and shamefully used children to bash the NRA, Trump (but not Sheriff Israel) and register voters for Democrat demagogues who use crisis to further their agenda and quite frankly, can’t wait for the next shooting to occur.
10:42, quite the opposite. The founding fathers designed the Constitution to deal with the eternal truth that national government USUALLY accumulate and abuse power and wanted the citizenry to have the ability to resist threats to their liberties. There is no mention nor even spirit in the language of the Constitution or Federalist Papers that law-abiding citizens be limited to weapons inferior to that of the military. There is AMPLE evidence that the founders wanted the citizenry to be able to DEFEAT a regular army (not to mention the paramilitaries of the blue windbreaker agencies FBI, DEA, ATF, IRS, etc. whose very existence would have chapped their @ss) if used to infringe on civil liberties. If you find such language, please feel free to share it.