Maryland: Law Constitutional
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler says a sweeping gun-control bill passed in Maryland this year is constitutional and legally defensible.
The attorney general's office on Wednesday released a 25-page letter to Gov. Martin O'Malley that examines the constitutionality of the bill, which O'Malley proposed this year as a top legislative priority.
In the letter, Gansler says the measure was crafted carefully to balance the rights of legitimate gun owners with the need for increased public and law enforcement safety from gun violence.
The measure will require people who buy a handgun to submit fingerprints to state police. It also bans 45 types of assault weapons, although people who own them now will be allowed to keep them.
It also limits gun magazines to 10 bullets.
Delaware Criminal Background Checks
DOVER, Del. (AP) - Gov. Jack Markell has signed a bill expanding criminal background checks on gun purchases in Delaware to include most transactions between private sellers and buyers.
The legislation signed Wednesday is the first bill in a package of gun-control measures proposed by Markell after the Connecticut school shooting in December to be enacted into law
Lawmakers approved the bill after specifying that the state can't use information from background checks to establish any gun registration system, which some opponents claimed was the real intent of the bill.
The bill exempts gun transfers between immediate family members and those in which active-duty or retired law enforcement officers qualified to have firearms are the buyers.
Violation of the law is a misdemeanor upon first offense and a felony for subsequent offenses.
Mental Health Restriction in Delaware
DOVER, Del. (AP) - A bill expanding the ability of authorities in Delaware to prohibit people with mental health issues from having guns is on its way to the state House for a vote.
The Health and Human Development Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to release the bill, which is aimed at ensuring that people deemed a danger to themselves or others don't have access to guns.
Under current law, a person who has been committed to a hospital or mental health institution for a mental disorder can be prohibited from possessing a gun.
The bill expands the mental health prohibition to include individuals deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. Criminal defendants found guilty but mentally ill, not guilty by reason of insanity, or incompetent to stand trial also would be prohibited.
