WASHINGTON — People on both sides of the gun rights issue lined up to attend hearings on proposals on everything — from banning anyone on the no-fly list from getting a firearm, to a ban on weapons on college campuses.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate, appeared to testify in favor of a bill he’s championed on the federal level: barring those on the terror-watch list — the so called “no fly list” — from being able to obtain firearms.
Speaking to reporters before heading into the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, Van Hollen said “it’s just common sense that if you’ve been found to be a danger to the community and you can’t get on an airplane, then you shouldn’t be able to get a semi-automatic weapon.”
But a gun rights supporter, who would only identify himself as Dan from the Eastern Shore, said the no-fly list is deeply flawed.
And so is the bill being heard in Annapolis, he said.
“Many of the people on the terror watch list are there in error–the bill itself is based only on suspicion,” Dan said.
Other bills would restrict firearms from college campuses, with exceptions for the National Guard, campus security, and for student team events like skeet shooting.
Another bill would require judges to inform anyone convicted of domestic violence that they would have to surrender their firearms.
