Posted on 07/11/23
| News Source: WBAL TV
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he will not call a special session for gun legislation amid calls from state Republicans to convene one.
A mass shooting in Baltimore's Brooklyn neighborhood on July 2 claimed two lives and wounded 28 others, most of them teenagers. Two days later, a 14-year-old boy was fatally shot and six others were wounded in a mass shooting in Salisbury.
Maryland Senate Minority Leader Stephen Hershey Jr., R-District 36, took to Twitter to call for a single-issue special session to address gun violence. Moore, a Democrat, on Monday said no.
"There is no plan to have a special session," Moore told 11 News.
Instead, the governor outlined several ways he plans to address gun violence without enacting new laws that include providing resources to local law enforcement, supporting local state's attorneys, as well as the Maryland Attorney General's Office and implementing greater coordination with regional partners.
"We don't have to wait for a session in order to address what is the No. 1 priority for our administration," Moore said. "We are focused on making sure we are getting and keeping these violent offenders, repeat violent offenders off our streets."
Republican state lawmakers told 11 News that they believe the governor is making a big mistake for not calling a special session.
"It's very disappointing," said Baltimore County Sen. Johnny Ray Salling, R-District 6. "Saying no to having a special session is making a statement to people saying it is not a priority."
A Gonzales Poll released in June indicates 89% of Maryland voters surveyed want the possession of a stolen gun bumped from a misdemeanor to a felony.
House Republicans can only blame themselves for killing that piece of gun legislation on the last day of Session 2023 after having walked out of the chamber in protest over the lack of progress on GOP bills that would have increased sentences for violent offenders. Lawmakers ran out of time to vote.
House Bill 135 would have bumped the sale or transfer of a stolen gun from a misdemeanor to a felony. The bill would have also increased the punishment from a misdemeanor to a felony for the manufacture and sale of a weapon to a prohibited person, and it would have raised the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony for altering or erasing serial numbers.
"Making sure people are held to account for this is the highest priority for us, and we are working with our federal partners as well as our local partners to make sure that happens," Moore said.
The Gonzales Poll indicated 89% of Maryland voters surveyed said it should be a felony to possess a stolen firearm.