Anonymous wrote:I’m confused. Were they following the law and if so, why are they getting charged? Or does the states attorney not like how the law was followed?

The fact that none of the stores were charged criminally is a good indicator that none of them violated any state or federal laws.

Indictments are generally easily for prosecutors to get. The Grand Jury process is heavily weighted in favor of the state. If there was even a possibility of a viable criminal charge coming from the actions of the stores, these AG’s would’ve put it in front of a Grand Jury, and gotten an indictment for applicable criminal charges.

But they didn’t even attempt to go that route.

Anonymous wrote:I took the class at Northern Virginia Community college that was sponsored by the local sheriffs department. It has to do with gun safety and local laws in the DC area. It was not a qualification for license course.

Called it! yes hon, you took a “class” at an institution that also teaches plumbing. That’s why we’re laughing at you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is totally on the state of Maryland. I am a Democrat who took a gun class to learn about the subject and gain insight into this topic. While I would not buy a gun for myself, I learned about the requirements the state has in place for gun ownership. The State Police has all the information and controls the whole process, the gun stores have to wait for the approval from the police to release any guns to the purchaser. The State police granted this guy a collectors license to purchase multiple guns in a short period, so the stores were following the law. While I feel that gun stores bother people, most are small business people that operate in one of the most regulated industries and state oversight.
Why have a state database and check system in place if no one is monitoring the purchases.

All things being equal, I'm going to assume that the Maryland and DC Attorneys General know more about the law than someone who took a class.

The fact that these attorneys general, who do in fact know more about the law than the average person, chose to bring a civil suit rather than seek a criminal indictment and criminal trial, tells me they had serious doubts about their ability to make a case that the stores violated any law whatsoever.

They chose instead to bring suit in civil court, where the burden of proof is far lower, and more subjective.

But I would argue that a civil judgement isn’t even the REAL intent here, but rather to force these small businesses in question into bankruptcy because they can’t afford the crushing burden of the legal defense needed to defend their case against a state government with virtually unlimited taxpayer funded resources.

This is a David vs Goliath situation, in terms of cash reserves and resources. The AG’s know they don’t have a criminal case, and probably not a civil one either, so the goal is just to drive the store out of business with legal fees trying to defend themselves.

It’s simply lawfare.

The process itself is the punishment.

I’m confused. Were they following the law and if so, why are they getting charged? Or does the states attorney not like how the law was followed?

Anonymous wrote:Good.

+1 Great! We don't need straw purchases by bad actors making our families less safe. My applause to the MD AG.

I took the class at Northern Virginia Community college that was sponsored by the local sheriffs department. It has to do with gun safety and local laws in the DC area. It was not a qualification for license course.

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Anonymous wrote:This is totally on the state of Maryland. I am a Democrat who took a gun class to learn about the subject and gain insight into this topic. While I would not buy a gun for myself, I learned about the requirements the state has in place for gun ownership. The State Police has all the information and controls the whole process, the gun stores have to wait for the approval from the police to release any guns to the purchaser. The State police granted this guy a collectors license to purchase multiple guns in a short period, so the stores were following the law. While I feel that gun stores bother people, most are small business people that operate in one of the most regulated industries and state oversight.
Why have a state database and check system in place if no one is monitoring the purchases.

What “class” was this? Who was teaching it? What expertise in matters of the law did the instructor(s) have? I’ve spent my entire adult life in academia and I’ve never heard of such a class. Was it taught at some community college?

Why the swipe at community college? How distasteful.

I'm sure it was the HQL class, required to purchase a handgun in Maryland.

A “class” for buying a gun. The NRA thinks of everything, huh?

Idiocy.

Anonymous wrote:This is totally on the state of Maryland. I am a Democrat who took a gun class to learn about the subject and gain insight into this topic. While I would not buy a gun for myself, I learned about the requirements the state has in place for gun ownership. The State Police has all the information and controls the whole process, the gun stores have to wait for the approval from the police to release any guns to the purchaser. The State police granted this guy a collectors license to purchase multiple guns in a short period, so the stores were following the law. While I feel that gun stores bother people, most are small business people that operate in one of the most regulated industries and state oversight.
Why have a state database and check system in place if no one is monitoring the purchases.

All things being equal, I'm going to assume that the Maryland and DC Attorneys General know more about the law than someone who took a class.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is totally on the state of Maryland. I am a Democrat who took a gun class to learn about the subject and gain insight into this topic. While I would not buy a gun for myself, I learned about the requirements the state has in place for gun ownership. The State Police has all the information and controls the whole process, the gun stores have to wait for the approval from the police to release any guns to the purchaser. The State police granted this guy a collectors license to purchase multiple guns in a short period, so the stores were following the law. While I feel that gun stores bother people, most are small business people that operate in one of the most regulated industries and state oversight.
Why have a state database and check system in place if no one is monitoring the purchases.

What “class” was this? Who was teaching it? What expertise in matters of the law did the instructor(s) have? I’ve spent my entire adult life in academia and I’ve never heard of such a class. Was it taught at some community college?

Why the swipe at community college? How distasteful.

I'm sure it was the HQL class, required to purchase a handgun in Maryland.

The only thing nutty here is the politically motivated litigiousness of a state employee with aspirations of higher office.

If Brown still had aspirations of higher office he would have run for governor in 2022 or Senate in 2024.

Anonymous wrote:I just don't understand why they don't microchip guns. They should require periodic scanning of the microchip by the purchaser to prove that the buyer is still in possession of the gun. It'd make it much harder for straw purchases.

Smart guns exist but the gun lobby hates them.

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Anonymous wrote:You know how many times these gun shops been broken into and guns stolen. They need to close them all down.

So where do I - a non criminal - buy my guns after you’ve shut down the shops because your police won’t control criminals?

I mean, as long as we’re eliminating each other’s rights, can we also close polling places because I don’t like the outcome of local elections? You’re cool with that in exchange for closing gun stores, right? Tit for tat, and all….

How many guns does a non-criminal like you need?

I collect guns. Just like some people collect stamps or beanie babies or pointless Masters degrees. I enjoy it.

The guns I choose to collect are already expensive, and get more expensive each year, so it’s also a stable asset that continually appreciates.

But in order to purchase them, they MUST be purchased through an FFL. But you want to shut down FFL’s.

So where does that leave me?

You register as a collector.

I already AM a designated collector with the state of Maryland.

That just means I can purchase multiple guns at time, rather than the current one-per-month that most Maryland residents are limited to. I registered as a designated collector because I frequently acquire multiple guns estate sales, where keeping a specific lot of guns together as part of their own collection is vital to maintaining the collective value of them as a set.


But even as a collector, I still need to go through a dealer to transfer them to me. If there are no gun dealers left because they’ve all been sued by a punitive AG, that’s a serious problem. Not just for me as a collector, but for ANY person who wants to acquire a gun legally and above board.

If you close gun dealers, you will basically force all gun transactions underground. Is that really the solution you want? Because then there’s no records, no background checks, no waiting periods, nothing. I don’t we’d be better served in that world that some of you seem to want to create by shutting down gun stores.

The AG sued 3 gun dealers in Rockville for obvious straw buying.

According to this website for FFLs, there's over 2000 federal dealers in Maryland: https://www.ffl123.com/ffl-dealers-per-state-by-population/

Stop shouting, chicken little. You still have 2000+ dealers to choose from in MD. No lack of options.

There are ~2,000 FFL holders in Maryland - that’s ALL types of FFL’s, of which there are many. Only a tiny fraction of that number are retail gun sales locations, however.


There are FFL’s required for:

Gun sales (like stores, obviously)

but also:

Gun repair/refinishing
Manufacturing
Collection of Curio and Relic guns
Explosive manufacturing
Destructive Device manufacturing
Ammunition manufacturing
Fireworks manufacturing
Fireworks sales
Fireworks distribution


So there might be over 2,000 FFL’s in Maryland, yes. But probably less than 200 are retail sales locations that sell guns to the public. The rest are industrial FFL’s held by businesses that work in areas requiring a FFL.

Lockheed Martin in Bethesda, for example, holds at least 6 different FFL’s at its facility in Bethesda. But NOT because they sell guns.

You should educate yourself about stuff like this, then you wouldn’t look so laughably uninformed and foolish when you blather things like “you still have 2,000 dealers to choose from chicken little”.

So you're hyperventilating about 3 shops that arguably were not following the law when you - self admittedly - have 200+ other retail locations to choose from?

Chill.

Those three dealers being unfairly targeted by the AG in this frivolous suit are the three closest ones to my home. I’m a regular customer at all three of them.

Your flippancy puzzles me.

What if the AG decided to sue your closest three pharmacies because people with illegally obtained prescriptions were buying narcotic drugs there and reselling them to kids? No big deal, right? You can just drive another 20 minutes to find another pharmacy, right?

DP. I just returned from a pharmacy that's 8 miles away, because none of the closest pharmacies have the medication in stock that my child needs. So if you're looking for sympathy that it will now potentially be less convenient for you to buy the guns you collect for fun? You won't get it from me.

DP

Then perhaps the three closest ones that do have whatever the medication you need should be sued closed. Won’t hurt you to drive an extra hour each way. It builds humility.

If there’s three closest pharmacies are selling giant amounts of opiates to one customer over and over, perhaps they should be closed down.

Anonymous wrote:This is totally on the state of Maryland. I am a Democrat who took a gun class to learn about the subject and gain insight into this topic. While I would not buy a gun for myself, I learned about the requirements the state has in place for gun ownership. The State Police has all the information and controls the whole process, the gun stores have to wait for the approval from the police to release any guns to the purchaser. The State police granted this guy a collectors license to purchase multiple guns in a short period, so the stores were following the law. While I feel that gun stores bother people, most are small business people that operate in one of the most regulated industries and state oversight.
Why have a state database and check system in place if no one is monitoring the purchases.

What “class” was this? Who was teaching it? What expertise in matters of the law did the instructor(s) have? I’ve spent my entire adult life in academia and I’ve never heard of such a class. Was it taught at some community college?

This is totally on the state of Maryland. I am a Democrat who took a gun class to learn about the subject and gain insight into this topic. While I would not buy a gun for myself, I learned about the requirements the state has in place for gun ownership. The State Police has all the information and controls the whole process, the gun stores have to wait for the approval from the police to release any guns to the purchaser. The State police granted this guy a collectors license to purchase multiple guns in a short period, so the stores were following the law. While I feel that gun stores bother people, most are small business people that operate in one of the most regulated industries and state oversight.
Why have a state database and check system in place if no one is monitoring the purchases.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just don't understand why they don't microchip guns. They should require periodic scanning of the microchip by the purchaser to prove that the buyer is still in possession of the gun. It'd make it much harder for straw purchases.

It would be easier and simpler to just chip the "teens" instead.

Yep, it seriously would. Cheaper, too.