For Immediate Release

Baltimore City Council supports a strengthened federal assault weapons ban

November 5th, 2003

CeaseFire Maryland Working to free Maryland from gun violence

Baltimore, MD: CeaseFire Maryland, formerly Marylanders Against Handgun Abuse, praised the Baltimore City Council and its President, Sheila Dixon, for passing a resolution strongly supporting a permanent federal ban on military-style assault weapons. The resolution was passed at Monday's Council meeting.

Leah Barrett, Executive Director of CeaseFire Maryland, said: "I want to thank President Dixon for sending a strong message to Congress and the President, that the people of Baltimore want these weapons of war off their streets for good. Assault weapons are semi-automatic guns designed and manufactured for the sole purpose of killing the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time. They are the guns of choice for criminals enabling them to commit some of America's most deadly crimes, including the 1989 Stockton, CA schoolyard shooting, the 19999 massacre at Columbine High School, and the 2002 D.C. area sniper attacks."

Ms. Barrett continued: "And to those in the gun lobby who still say assault weapons are not used to commit crimes, let them respond to the fact that between 1998 and 2001, according to FBI statistics, assault weapons were used to kill one in five law enforcement officers slain in the line of duty. One of these deaths occurred here in Maryland."

The Resolution cites the fact that "…since 1994, many gun manufacturers have ignored the spirit of the law by manufacturing "copycat" guns nearly identical to those banned but for minor cosmetic changes." A prime example of one of these "copycat" guns is the Bushmaster assault rifle, a civilian version of the military M-16 and the gun used to kill ten and wound three in the D.C. area sniper attacks over a year ago.

At an October 18th seminar at Johns Hopkins University Chief Edwin Day of the Baltimore City Police Department's Detective division said: "Just the other night, an AR-15 assault rifle killed a young man in Baltimore. These guns can fire off 25-30 rounds of ammunition in a few seconds. Assault weapons are designed to instill fear and their lethality has held Kevlar-vested police at bay. Do we want the guardians of society to be outgunned by the bad guys?"

Matt Fenton, President of CeaseFire Maryland, said, "There is no danger sportsmen would be denied their firearms. The federal law provides specific protection to 670 types of hunting rifles and shotguns currently being manufactured. The gun industry admits that assault weapons have limited sporting use."

It turns out that support for a ban goes beyond Baltimore City. In a survey conducted last March by Gonzales/Arscott Research, it was revealed that nearly two-thirds of Marylanders support banning these weapons of war from our streets, including 52% of Republicans. Maryland would be following other states that have chosen to ban these guns, including Massachusetts, California, New Jersey, Connecticut and Hawaii.