For Immediate Release

State’s leading gun violence prevention organization announces name change to CeaseFire Maryland

April 17, 2003

Baltimore, MD: Marylanders Against Handgun Abuse (MAHA), the only statewide group working to free Maryland from gun violence, announced a name change to CeaseFire Maryland. Leah Barrett, Executive Director, said: “CeaseFire Maryland says what we are about: stopping the gunfire that kills over 650 Marylanders each year and injures countless others.”

Matt Fenton, Board President of CeaseFire Maryland added: “MAHA has long led the way in Maryland and the country toward reducing gun violence. But, we still have much work to do to make the Free State the Safe State. Changing our name to CeaseFire Maryland will help us attract and focus the enormous public support for sensible gun laws in our state. We also believe that our new name will give a dose of enthusiasm to our friends and allies.”

Barrett said: “This is a time when gun violence is rising across America, when the DC suburbs endured a terror-filled 3 weeks as snipers killed and injured ordinary people just minutes from the White House. It is a time when lawmakers are allowing the gun industry to escape legal scrutiny, when updating the federal ban on military-style assault weapons will be a huge task. It has never been easy to enact sensible laws to save the 30,000 American lives lost each year to gun violence. Under the current Administration and Congress, it has become even harder.”

Since 1986, MAHA has worked to make Maryland among the most progressive states on gun laws. The 1988 Saturday Night Special Law, prohibiting cheap handguns from sale in Maryland, has been associated with reduced access to criminals for these guns, and a 9% decrease in firearm homicides in the state between 1990-1998, which translates to forty lives saved per year.

The 1992 Child Access Prevention (CAP) Law demands that gun owners keep their weapons out of the reach of children. In 1996 MAHA worked to pass the Gun Violence Act that limits handgun purchases to one per person per month, prohibits ‘straw purchases’ (people buying guns for felons), and bars domestic abusers from buying handguns. The Responsible Gun Safety Act required that from January 1, 2003, new handguns sold in MD be equipped with an integrated mechanical safety device to prevent children and other unauthorized users from firing them; as well as ballistic fingerprinting of shell casings from new handguns.

Fenton continued: “Much remains to be done. In 2000, homicide was the second leading cause of death for Maryland youth ages 15-24 years, followed by suicide. Eight of ten homicides and half of suicides for this group were committed with guns. CeaseFire Maryland will work for an updated assault weapons ban, ballistic fingerprinting for long guns and mandatory loss and theft reporting for handguns, all needed tools to help law enforcement prevent and solve gun crimes.”

At the federal level, sensible gun laws have been under attack by the Bush Administration. The US House just passed HR 1036, to grant legal immunity to the gun industry, which no other industry enjoys. The 1994 assault weapons ban expires in 2004 and needs significant strengthening as the gun industry has skirted the ban by making copycat assault weapons (the Bushmaster by the Washington area snipers is a post-ban knock-off of the military M-16).

Barrett said: “CeaseFire Maryland will continue to expand its effective advocacy under its new name. We are optimistic and enthusiastic about our future prospects for safety.”