State lawmakers to revive gun-control bill
In the wake of the Orlando, Fla., massacre, top Maryland Democrats plan to renew a push to ban people on terrorist watch lists from buying guns here.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch said Thursday the legislation will be “a top priority” for next year's session, and he will call lawmakers back to Annapolis before then for briefings.
“You can't stand by and let these incidents take place,” Busch said in an interview. “You have individuals who are unstable and want to do people harm. You have to do everything in your power to make sure they don't have access to the firepower.”
Sen. Bobby Zirkin, chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, said “it's a no-brainer,” and he'll work to move it out of his panel, where a similar bill failed this year.
“As a statement for our state, I certainly hope that we pass it, and pass it quickly, next year,” said Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat.
The killing of 49 people in an Orlando nightclub early Sunday morning by a gunman who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State has revived a national debate over gun control.
The U.S. Senate scheduled a vote Monday on four gun-control proposals, including two that would bar suspected terrorists from buying guns. All of the bills have failed previously in that chamber.
Maryland state lawmakers considered a similar proposal this year, but it died in House of Delegates and Senate committees.
The man behind the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history had been placed twice in the Terrorist Screening Database and removed twice after FBI investigations, according to the Los Angeles Times. Federal authorities still are investigating the Orlando shooter's motive, but his ties to the federal terror list renewed calls to ban guns sales to people on it.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump endorsed a ban Wednesday on terror suspects buying guns.
Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, called for more sweeping gun control reforms this week.
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