gun control

For almost two weeks, a Democratic slate supporting Courtney Watson for Howard County executive had been attacking Sen. Allan Kittleman, her Republican opponent, for supporting arming teachers and administrators with guns to protect students.

For almost as long, Kittleman has been saying he was misquoted in the 2006 Washington Examiner story that was the basis of the claim, and had demanded a correction.

MarylandReporter.com tracked down the reporter who wrote the story and she said that indeed Kittleman’s position was misrepresented in the editing process and a correction had been made

G.K. Chesterton once said fallacies do not cease to be fallacies simply because they become fashion. This describes Vinny DeMarco’s utterly unoriginal and fallacy laden piece, defending the Firearms Safety Act of 2013. DeMarco thinks if he merely adds the phrase “saves lives” to the end of his assertions that by some alchemy they become fact.

Vincent DeMarco, president of Marylanders To Prevent Gun Violence, asked to respond to last week’s series on Gun Wars because he felt it did not fully describe the progress made by the Firearms Safety Act passed last year. He says the law is already saving lives and should be a model for other states.

Americans are twice as likely to die from turning guns on themselves as they are to be murdered with one.

A national analysis of 2012 data found 18,602 firearm suicides in 44 states compared with about 9,655 firearm homicides in 49 states. That means at least 50 people died per day from firearm suicide; 26 died from firearm homicides. In Maryland, the numbers appear to be about even based on incomplete data.

Today’s story talks to local sheriffs who oppose restrictions on Second Amendment rights. The article leads with Wicomico County, Md. Sheriff Michael Lewis and includes a strong video of Sheriff Lewis’s view of guns on the Eastern Shore. There are also comments from Sen. Brian Frosh, the Democratic nominee for attorney general.