On Wednesday, January 11^th, the Board of Charles County Commissioners will hear Bill No. 2022-51, a Montgomery County-style ordinance to ban firearms within 100 yards of buildings owned or operated by the County. NRA members and Second Amendment supporters are invited to speak at the meeting and submit written comments in opposition to the bill. For information on attending in-person or by video conference, please click here to view the agenda. Please click the button below to submit E-Comments, which will be accepted until 5:00 p.m., on the day of the meeting.

Bill No. 2022-51 exempts members of the Board who hold a carry permit, but not average citizens who hold the same permit and who are also fingerprinted and vetted by the Maryland State Police. It also does not exempt the publicly accessible parking areas of these county buildings or the roads and private properties that are within these 100 yard zones. As a result, law-abiding citizens will have to leave their firearms at home or park further away from the places where they intend to do business, and be left defenseless the whole time. They may also inadvertently break the law by walking or driving into these unmarked areas.

This bill is not about public safety. It does not require the county to guarantee the security of the citizens who will be disarmed. There are no mentions of any active measures to prevent armed criminals from ignoring such arbitrary “gun-free zones,” such as metal detectors, increased police presence, or gated parking areas.

Article by NRA-ILA