National & World News

Maryland’s Gov. O’Malley to push for new gun control

MD Governor Martin O'MalleyBy Paul Steinhauser, CNN Political Editor - WASHINGTON (CNN) — Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley plans to announce Monday morning that he’ll push for new tough measures to reduce gun violence.

“Later this week we’ll be introducing a comprehensive legislative package to prevent gun violence – that addresses guns themselves, but also entails a mental-health and school safety approach,” the two-term Democratic governor will say during a speech at a gun control summit being held at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, according to a senior O’Malley adviser.

In his speech, O’Malley will spell out what’s in his proposal.

“It will ban military-style assault weapons that have no place on the streets of Baltimore City or anywhere else in our state. And it will also limit the size of magazines to make it harder for criminals to gun down police officers or school children,” O’Malley will say. “It will have a common-sense licensing requirements for handguns that respect the traditions of hunters and sportsmen and women.”

His package will also include what he calls reforms to improve mental health services, such as data sharing, and investments in better treatment. O’Malley will also announce the creation of a new “Center for Excellence on Early Intervention for Serious Mental Illness, so that we’re able to utilize more effective early intervention strategies.” He’ll also call for new investments to improve school safety.

The summit is being held one month after 27 people, including 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School, were killed in Newtown, Connecticut by a gunman armed with assault weapons, who then shot himself to death.

The Washington Post was first to report O’Malley’s proposals on gun violence.

The upcoming gun control debate in Maryland, where Democrats dominate the state legislature, will be very different from the conversations ongoing in the nation’s capital, where getting any gun control legislation through the Republican-controlled House of Representatives will be a challenge.

On Monday, O’Malley’s gun control measures were not getting a thumbs up from a top Maryland Republican lawmaker.

“This looks like crass opportunism from politicians who want gun control,” Maryland House Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell told the Washington Post.

The Maryland GOP would need to win over some Democratic lawmakers in the state legislature to defeat O’Malley’s proposals.

O’Malley’s plans come one week after Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York announced aggressive gun control legislation. Both men may be considering bids down the road in 2016 for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware, a fellow Democrat, is also expected Monday to introduce new gun control proposals.

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VIEW & ADD COMMENTS

3 Comments to “Maryland’s Gov. O’Malley to push for new gun control”

    Anonymous said:
    January 14, 2013 at 10:20 AM

    The illustrious band leader governor might ask himself how many crimes in MD have ever been committed with an "assault" rifle. Controlling felons and the deranged would be a safer bet. MD already has background checks at gun shows for both long guns and hand guns. Seems the band leader is jumping on the band wagon. All; he needs now is a steam calliope.

      Anonymous said:
      January 14, 2013 at 10:32 AM

      He wants to "make it harder for criminals to gun down police" lets see what he can do to get criminals off the streets before blaming the law abiding.

    Anonymous said:
    January 14, 2013 at 10:54 AM

    It continues to astonish me that politicians seem to think that new restrictions will be given any consideration by criminals – given the statistics (from good sources like fbi.gov), these kinds of laws clearly will benefit those who have no regard for the law. Disagree? Just look at gun crime stats in Australia and in the UK since they gathered up the citizen's weapons and/or applied heavy restrictions. Five-fold increases in gun-related crimes? We want that here? Really?

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