U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen and Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh on Wednesday called for other states to join Maryland in requiring licenses to purchase handguns, saying the rule works best to stem gun violence when it applies across jurisdictions.

During a news conference with other gun-control advocates at a Baltimore County courthouse, the officials said that firearms tend to flow from states that lack permit-to-purchase laws to those that have them, with guns often landing in the hands of criminals.

Ten states and the District of Columbia have licensing requirements for handguns, but the Maryland border states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia do not.

Van Hollen (D-Md.), a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Senate, has introduced legislation that would provide financial incentives for states to adopt purchasing laws similar to the one that Maryland enacted in 2013, which requires fingerprinting and licensing

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo renewed his call for national gun control legislation on Saturday as he delivered a eulogy for the top state attorney who was fatally wounded by a stray bullet in Brooklyn earlier this month.

State officials and family members gathered at Brooklyn's Emmanuel Baptist Church in a private service for Carey Gabay, 43, who was struck in the head at a pre-dawn outdoor celebration on Sept. 7 before the annual West Indian Day parade, an event plagued by violence in recent years.

Gabay is believed to have been an unintended target, police said.

"His death was one of the most tragic, pointless examples of the rampant violence that is spreading like a cancer through our society, especially in our poorer communities and especially in our communities of color," Cuomo said.

DETROIT — A state trooper on motorcycle patrol died from injuries suffered when he was dragged several miles by a car hauling a trailer which struck him along a Michigan highway.

Trooper Chad Wolf, 38, died Friday afternoon at a hospital, according to the state police.

"It is with very heavy hearts that we confirm the death of one of our own, Trooper Chad Wolf," state police director Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue said in a release. "Our troopers know the dangers they face each time they put on their uniform, but the calling they feel to serve the public is stronger than any fear. Trooper Wolf will forever be remembered as a loving husband, dedicated father and outstanding public servant."

Wolf was riding north about 6:30 a.m. on Dixie Highway and crossing over Interstate 75 north of Detroit in Springfield Township when the car and trailer collided with his motorcycle. Wolf was snatched from the motorcycle and trapped beneath the car or trailer.

Back in May this year, Andrea Colledani wrote an article for The Beacon suggesting that the Second Amendment needed to be revised to fit modern needs. Unfortunately, she did not have any suggestion for what course of action might be taken.

Colledani was right of course, the Second Amendment is outdated. Militias are redundant in the modern developed world, but the right to bear arms goes beyond that. The guns used at Lexington and Concord were hunting rifles, and regardless of your participation in the sport, there is no denying that its practice is beneficial. When deer populations skyrocket, the creatures destroy crops worse than rats, and coyotes are more violent pests. I realize that these are less of an issue in Miami than in my native Iowa, but the U.S. is made of much more than South Florida.

If I had my way, the solution to gun rights would be in your wallet. I don’t believe anyone needs to own a gun. Some careers may benefit from their use, but that’s on a professional level, not a personal one. If you need a gun at work, you should pick up your sidearm when you punch in and drop it off when you punch out. But what about the every man, those hunters I spent my last paragraph defending? They wouldn’t own their guns or their relatives. I say all ranged weapons – shotguns, rifles, pistols and bows – need to be collected by the government, catalogued and put in a library. You want to shoot Bambi? Fine, but I’ll need to see your gun-library-card.

They would, of course, be exceptions to the rule. Your grandfather’s WWI rifle is an heirloom, not a weapon, and would be categorized as such. Antiques would be examined by an expert who would make sure they are safe enough to be kept in a home and then be returned to their cabinets.

The National Rifle Assn. (NRA) has pushed the limits of the Second Amendment to the extent that there is daily gun violence all over America, unabated because a gutless Congress won't enact laws to control guns in this country. The 2nd Amendment is an antique that should either be drastically modified or repealed. There is no hope for reasonable gun control until the NRA, along with its leader, Wayne LaPierre, are backed into a corner and told to shut up.

Just yesterday I posted on my blog about the death of an innocent 19-year-old girl and asked the question I have been asking for a couple of years: Where did he get the gun? There is no answer to that because the NRA has refused to allow a gun registry that would assist law enforcement in tracing back every gun used in violent shootings. One of the reasons the gun lobby doesn't want that registry is that then many of the weapons used in gun violence might be connected to NRA members

By DAN SEWELL(0) Comments
CINCINNATI (AP) — A 3-year-old boy had been playing with a handgun he found in his home before fatally shooting himself in the chest with it, police said Friday.

In audio tape of a 911 call released by Hamilton police, a woman identifying herself as the mother of Marques Green said she carried the gun in her purse and had set her purse down after getting home.

"My son just shot himself, and I'm not getting a pulse," Elizabeth Green screamed Thursday afternoon. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I'm not getting a pulse ... I don't think he's alive!"

It's the second apparently accidental gunshot death of a young person this month in Hamilton, a city of 62,000 people nearly 30 miles north of Cincinnati.

A small but significant number of Americans are packing guns everywhere and all the time, including inappropriately during political gatherings. Rather than relying on stricter gun control laws, we might look to the model of public shaming provided by changes in tobacco use.

Tobacco use is and always has been legal in the U.S. At one time, tobacco was commonly chewed. Users spit the resulting juice into ever-present spittoons that were simply accepted by polite society, despite the poor aim that often resulted in disgusting piles of soggy leaves. By the 20th century, smoke-filled rooms and smelly ashtrays had replaced spittoons. Society, however, broadly continued to accept and even encourage the open use of tobacco.

There was some success in legally prohibiting cigarette sales to minors. Common wisdom held that smoking was bad for healthy growth. The health consequences of tobacco use on adults had little negative effect. Increased cost from higher and higher taxes also failed to dampen smoking.

Then it all changed. The tipping point came when smoking was perceived to be socially unacceptable.