A full-court press on the right to keep and bear arms was announced by Democrat presidential wannabe Martin O’Malley recently
, and it brought immediate backlash from gunowners.
O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland who pushed through gun restrictions in his state, would take his campaign against the Second Amendment nationwide if elected. His gun control manifesto includes provisions for fingerprint licensing, national registration, mandatory “safe storage,” microstamping and a ban on so-called “assault weapons.”
There is also a provision for prohibiting handgun ownership for anyone under age 21, which does not appear to exempt anyone who is or has served in the armed forces, and he would have a waiting period on all firearms transactions. Further, there would be no exemption from background checks for people who have concealed carry permits or licenses, even though they must go through a background check to get licensed.
While the package may appeal to liberals, it was declared politically toxic by gun rights activists. Some used social media to declare O’Malley’s hopes to become the Democratic nominee dead in the water because of the gun control manifesto.
His campaign claimed that “unlicensed sellers…account for roughly 40 percent of all firearm sales,” a factoid debunked by the Washington Post Fact Checker, and that enjoys the status of urban legend.
