Every year, approximately 796 people die and another 1,363 are wounded through gun violence in Maryland. Gun violence is a significant public health challenge here and throughout the nation. As your senator I led our state’s efforts to strengthen our safe storage laws, crack down on gun trafficking, keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and hold the gun industry accountable.
College campuses should be places in which the open and free exchange of ideas is encouraged. Our students deserve a learning environment free from the fear that a firearm may be present in a classroom, the campus quad, or the dorm room. As your state senator, I have led the fight to keep guns off of our college campuses.
Of women killed by men, more than 90 percent are killed by a man they knew personally. At least 62 percent are killed by an intimate partner. Over the past 25 years, more intimate partner homicides have been carried out with guns than with all other weapons combined. Currently, the law prohibits a convicted domestic abuser from purchasing or possessing a gun, but the law does not provide a timeline for forfeiture or a requirement of proof of forfeiture. Over the past three years, I have been the lead sponsor of legislation that requires abusers to forfeit guns within 48 hours and to give notice of forfeiture within 5 days.