NRA - Institute for Legislative Action (ILA)

This note comes with many best wishes for a healthy and happy New Year. I write to remind you that that the 2024 Maryland Legislative Session begins tomorrow, January 10th, and it’s up to us – we need to be active citizens, not silent voices! Many of you are already involved in the legislative process, advocacy, and grassroots, but I hope those who are not will become active today.

Do you know your representatives? Do you have a relationship with your legislators? If not, please link here and find out who represents you. In fact, reach out to your state delegate and senator to develop a relationship, even if they are on opposite sides of issues important to you, including the Second Amendment! https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/members/district

Educate yourself about proposed gun control and pro-2A legislation. For information about the Maryland General Assembly and proposed legislation, link to -  https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/information/text/about_mga. ILA will keep you up to date on important issues and how you can help during the session.

Please consider becoming an NRA-ILA Frontlines Activist Volunteer. Join by linking to  https://www.nrailafrontlines.com/join, and you’ll get to work with me!

The organization, 2A Maryland, is a wonderful source of legislative information throughout the session. To sign up for their emails, go to https://2amaryland.org.

We heard it through the grapevine……a local gun control group said this about plans for the 2024 Session:

“The gun industry must be held accountable for the carnage it unleashes and Maryland’s ineffective Assault Weapons Ban must be fixed. Collaborating with legislators and our gun violence prevention partners, we are working to turn these principles into legislative priorities for the Maryland General Assembly’s 2024 Session.”

To give you a little background……

In 2023 Maryland state Senator Jeff Waldstreicher (D-District 18) and Delegates Vanessa Atterbeary (D-13) and Samuel Rosenberg (D-41) filed legislation, The Gun Industry Accountability Act of 2023 (SB113/HB259). These bills would have prohibited firearm industry members from “knowingly or recklessly creating, maintaining, or contributing to a public nuisance through the sale, manufacture, distribution, importation, or marketing of a firearm-related product under certain circumstances; requiring a firearm industry member to establish and implement certain reasonable controls regarding the sale, manufacture, distribution, importation, marketing, possession, or use of certain firearm-related products; authorizing certain civil actions for violations of the Act; etc..”  

The intent of these bills was to overrule the Protection of Lawful Commerce Arms Act (PLCAA), a United States Federal law which protects firearm manufacturers and dealers from being held liable for criminal misuse of their products. The PLCAA was enacted in 2005 by a broad bipartisan margin in response to dozens of frivolous lawsuits orchestrated and largely funded by gun control groups solely to put gun companies out of business based on circumstances beyond their control. Suing the firearms industry for street crime is like suing the automobile industry for criminal acts involving cars. Despite political rhetoric to the contrary, the PLCAA does not grant the firearm and ammunition industry blanket immunity from suit different than that enjoyed by other industries. Instead, the PLCAA codifies common law and common sense principles to prevent baseless litigation from bankrupting an entire lawful industry. In addition, PLCAA does not shield gun companies from being sued for wrongdoings. It includes carefully crafted exceptions to allow legitimate victims their day in court for cases involving defective firearms, breaches of contract, criminal behavior by a gun maker or seller, or the negligent entrustment of a firearm to an irresponsible person.

Most of the testimony provided in 2023 was unfavorable and fortunately these bills never made it out of committee. However, they’re back! We expect to see The Gun Industry Accountability Act of 2024 and other gun control legislation including, the Center for Firearm Violence Prevention, the Comprehensive Community Safety Funding Act, and the Firearm Industry Marketing Tactics, but bill specifics are not available yet.

Of course, there will be Anti-Crime legislation sponsored by the Senate and House Republican Caucus including, the Violent Firearms Offenders Act (previously introduced in 2020 & 2021), the Gun Theft Felony Act (sponsored since 2018 but never advanced), the Safer Communities Act, and the Drug-Free Roadways Act. We should thank these legislators for their efforts to protect Maryland citizens from criminal violence.

And don’t forget about the 2024 Elections …….

Our president and governor have embraced gun control as some kind of answer to violent crime. Good news is, we’re fighting back and will probably win in the courts; however, we can’t expect the courts to win these battles for us. In this year’s elections, the court of public opinion will matter at least as much as courts of law, and we must be proactive. Further, the president, governor and the super majority in the Maryland legislature are convinced that gun control is going to help them win big in 2024, and crafting a false narrative about gun owners, the Second Amendment, and violent crime is a key part of their strategy. We must push back against anti-gun lies and shine a light on their failures. We must make a concerted effort between now and the November election to point out public safety failures of the Biden and Moore administrations, including the lack of prosecutions for violations of existing gun laws and their desire to turn lawful gun owners into felons through regulatory and legislative action.

Become an active citizen, not a silent voice.

Questions? Please contact me at 919.360.9484 or cathywrightnra@gmail.com