Ghost gun illustration photo by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay.
AS NEW STATE GUN LAW GOES INTO EFFECT, B’MORE FILES GHOST GUN SUIT: Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced Wednesday that the city has filed a lawsuit against Polymer80 Inc., the country’s largest manufacturer of untraceable, unserialized firearms also known as ghost guns. Callan Tansill-Suddath/WYPR-FM.
- Scott’s suit accuses Polymer80 of “flooding” the streets with untraceable and unserialized firearms, creating a “public health crisis.” It comes on the same day a new Maryland state law went into effect prohibiting anyone from buying, selling or transferring an unfinished firearm frame or receiver that’s missing a serial number. Ryan Dickstein/WMAR-TV News.
- This new law state requires personal identification numbers for all unserialized firearms and unfinished frames and receivers, commonly referred to as 80% lowers (ghost guns) or build kits. And all firearms must be imprinted with a serial number or personal identification number before a person can sell, offer to sell or transfer a firearm. Valerie Bonk/WTOP-FM.
- The city lawsuit, filed in the city’s Circuit Court against Nevada-based Polymer80 and Hanover Armory, a gun store in Anne Arundel County, represents the city’s efforts to use every tool available to address a deepening public health crisis, Mayor Scott said. Ovetta Wiggins/The Washington Post.
STATE TO GET $15.8M FOR RAILROAD UPGRADES: The U.S. government is doling out millions of dollars to railroad projects throughout the country in hopes of improving supply chains and passenger rail service, including up to $15.8 million for Maryland to add four new working tracks and two crane rail beams within the Port of Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal. Jennifer Shutt/Maryland Matters.
GOV CANDIDATES BEGIN TO ADDRESS CRIME: Candidates for governor from both parties are focusing on crime and violence as an issue in the upcoming elections, and are weighing in on crime and how they would fight it as governor. Bryn Stole/The Baltimore Sun.
OPINION: COX SUIT AGAINST HOGAN ENDING WITH A WHIMPER: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in an unsigned May 9 ruling without oral argument, upheld a dismissal of Del. Dan Cox’s suit against Gov. Larry Hogan’s Covid restrictions, in which Cox claimed Hogan had overstepped the law and the Constitution in his use of emergency health powers. That lawsuit, which was joined by two other Republican members of the Maryland General Assembly, now appears likely to end with a whimper absent a bid for what would truly be a long-shot Supreme Court review. Walter Olson of the Cato Institute/Maryland Reporter.
MO CO LEADERS URGE HOGAN TO ADDRESS VOTING CRISIS: State Sen. Cheryl Kagan, D-Montgomery County, called on Gov. Larry Hogan to declare a state of emergency before the state’s primary election, to address what she calls an “impending electoral crisis.” Alicia Abelson/WTOP-FM.
- Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich on Wednesday called for a special session and compromise on a vetoed mail-in voting law. The leader of the most populous jurisdiction in the state said Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill last Friday will sow angst and conspiracy theories in the 2022 election. Bryan Sears/The Daily Record.
POLITICAL NOTES: BROWN ENDORSED, DEM GUB DEBATE & MORE: Maryland’s largest state employee union endorsed Rep. Anthony Brown (D) for attorney general on Wednesday. Maryland Public Television has announced it will host a gubernatorial debate on Monday featuring eight of the 10 Democrats running in the July 19 primary. Andrew Mallinoff is stepping down as manager of Rushern Baker’s gubernatorial campaign. Del. Chris Adams (R-37B), who is seeking a third term, is teaming up in the GOP primary with Thomas Hutchinson, a small businessman making his first run for public office. Danielle E. Gaines, Bruce DePuyt and Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
OPINION: WILD YOUGHIOGHENY AT AN INFLECTION POINT: In Western Maryland, we love our rivers and our bike trails. They drive some of the tourism in the area and allow us to get in tune with nature. So, combining a wild river, like the Youghiogheny, and a bike and walking path, like Eastern Continental Divide Loop Trail, is an obvious call, right? Editorial Board/The Cumberland Times News.
- One of the most unique places in the state of Maryland is under an egregious assault. I’m referring to the wild and scenic Youghiogheny River in Western Maryland. Under the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, it is the ONLY designated wild river in Maryland. For those of you out there that understand what a wild river should be, … make inquiries to the governor’s office and the Secretary of Natural Resources and ask them to explain why they want to ruin Maryland’s only wild river. Ed Thompson, retired DNR field biologist/The Cumberland Times News.
PILOT PROGRAM FINDS NEW DRUG SCOURGE: Nurses at about eight needle exchange programs in Maryland have been mailing swabs collected from users of street drugs to the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg since October. The findings have revealed a new scourge in the long-running drug epidemic: xylazine, an animal tranquilizer. Federal officials believe they are gaining unique and detailed information from the program, which is operating just in Maryland as a pilot. Meredith Cohn/The Baltimore Sun.
SEN. FELDMAN ENDORSES BLAIR FOR MO CO EXEC: District 15 Sen. Brian Feldman (D-Potomac) on Thursday became the third member of Montgomery County’s eight-person state Senate delegation to endorse businessman David Blair in next month’s Democratic primary for county executive. Louis Peck/Bethesda Beat.
MOSBY SEEKS TO FILE MOTIONS TO DISMISS PERJURY COUNTS: Marilyn Mosby’s defense team is asking for permission from the court to file motions to dismiss two perjury counts against her, according to court documents published Wednesday. Tim Swift/WBFF-TV News.
- She is focusing solely on two counts of perjury related to allegations that she falsely claimed pandemic-related financial hardship to withdraw money from her city retirement account. Madeleine O’Neill/The Daily Record.
FREDERICK COUNCIL CONSIDERS HANDLING MISCONDUCT OF MEMBERS: The Frederick County Council might add to its Rules of Procedure a process for handling misconduct allegations against council members, including public trials. After former Frederick Alderman Roger Wilson was accused in 2020 of sexual misconduct, people asked the County Council about how it would respond to a similar situation, said Council President M.C. Keegan-Ayer, D, who sponsored the rule change. Jack Hogan/The Frederick News Post.
