Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has joined a crusade that aims to use lawfare to ultimately drive all gun stores in the state out of business. The first three businesses in the crosshairs of the campaign are all located in Montgomery County. One of Brown's initial targets is a family-owned gun shop in Rockville operated by retired law enforcement professionals, United Gun Shop, whose owners have already been forced to shell out over $100,000 to defend themselves. Brown's partners in the lawfare effort are the Attorney General of the District of Columbia, and pro-gun-control organization Everytown Law. The other defendants in the civil suit filed last September 3 are Atlantic Guns and Engage Armament, which are also both located in Rockville.
Lawfare is the use of frivolous lawsuits designed to bankrupt political or business opponents either through victory with punitive damages in friendly courtroom venues, or through the cost of defense even if there is little or no chance of prevailing in court. It is often employed as a last resort, when such opponents are not violating criminal law, and their activities are legitimate and legal. You'll notice that Brown has not lodged criminal charges against the store owners.
While the shops are accused of selling guns to a "straw purchaser," the sales were legal. The shop owners have no way to know to whom a legal purchaser might sell a firearm after the transaction at their business. Brown, et al's civil suit argues that the shop owners should have known (through E.S.P., perhaps?) that his large number of legal purchases of firearms meant that he was selling them to criminals.
The lawfare effort is only the latest attempt by Montgomery County and Maryland elected officials to prevent their constituents from exercising their 2nd Amendment rights. Maryland's gun laws, among the strictest in the nation, have failed to prevent an ongoing violent crime wave, shootings, and homicides. They also happen to be unconstitutional. A forced closure of all gun stores in the county - and, potentially, the state - will make it all the more difficult for residents to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights.
United Gun Shop's owners have started a GiveSendGo fundraising campaign to help defray the tremendous cost of defending themselves from this lawfare in court. While Everytown Law is at least using its own funds in the effort, Brown is using your own tax dollars to strip you of your 2nd Amendment rights.
17 comments:
Lots of words summarized simply as "infringement." Nuff said...Not a minute too soon we will see 50 States with Constitutional Carry (up from the 28, or so, already.
Don't let appearances fool you. The Bolsheviks are at it again.
"When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have the guns..."
Don't worry, the plan is to have criminals turn in their guns.
Remember the good old days in MoCo when after shopping at Best Buy© for an answering machine or a burner LG© flip-phone, and you could leave that parking lot and go not too far North on #355 and simply turn right into another strip mall (before Edmonston), and go buy yourself a Gen1 Glock©17?
Pretty incredible but not surprising. MD Shall Issue is a fantastic 2A advocacy group and is already on this. They have done amazing and tireless work. This doesn't pass constitutional muster and Brown knows that. I got my first hunting license at Atlantic Guns in Silver Spring a long time ago. Those were the days. This won't stand but the real goal here is to put these businesses out of business from the cost of defending themselves against this total lunacy.
Since Dyer doesn't want to talk about it and everybody else who has commented so far doesn't seem to understand the weight of the situation: these three stores sold 34 semi-automatic pistols, to the same person, in the span of 7 months. Of those 34, at least 9 have been found at crime scenes in DC and Maryland, as the person who bought them all was illegally selling them in DC after buying them in Montgomery County. The person who bought the guns was criminally charged in DC, and now Maryland and DC's attorney generals are teaming up to target the gun stores that knowingly sold the same person the same gun over and over again in the span of less than a year.
6:34: That was covered in the article. None of the sales made were illegal. If law enforcement in DC is failing at its job, it can't rely on the psychic powers of gun store employees in Maryland to sense what a legal purchaser is going to do with their legal purchase.
Police in Maryland or DC can arrest the buyer for any illegal action he takes after the purchase, the AGs in DC or Maryland can resign because they have failed in their jobs, but they can't violate the rights of a legal business for a political agenda.
There's a reason this is a civil case, and not a criminal case, and it's because the gun stores did nothing wrong. Brown's choice makes that clear. This is the epitome of lawfare.
6:34 - Robert is correct. This is absolutely lawfare. The goal here is simple, as I stated already. Bankrupt these businesses with the immense legal costs required to fight this. Brown knows the state would never win on the merits. This is just unbelievable it really is. Would never, ever have happened under Ehrlich or Hogan and that's a fact. Elections indeed have serious consequences. Even anti-gun owners in MD should be outraged. Lastly, how does this make anyone safer? No need to answer such an obvious question.
@6:34 Very informative, thanks for posting, but just confirms that the State Police aren't doing their jobs.
I certainly feel safer if these stores are shut down and then other gun stores will hopefully take note. Not sure how this is different than pill-pusher pharmacies selling tons of opioids over-and-over to the same people who have prescriptions but nobody reasonably thinks this person is actually using the pills for themselves. Then there is faux "shock and outrage" when that person is arrested for selling those pills on the black market.
The only shop I have a real problem with on this list is Atlantic Guns, and its not really the shop but the permission of a beer and wine store next door, which added outdoor seating. IMO that's an open invitation for a gun purchaser, with a nefarious mind to go next door and purchase and consumer their purchase, while waiting for their gun purchase to be approved. Just saying, it looks weird having the two next to each other.
9:45 - This must be MoCo with a comment like that. These stores are owned and operated by decent, hard-working, honest citizens of our community who provide products that people want as well as providing good service. They do this at great risk for obvious reasons. The state should not be among the risks these small businesses face. This is so unbelievable it isn't even funny. Lastly, how interesting that nobody says a word about legal pot everywhere which about the most unhealthy activity one can engage in. Why, because it nets the state millions each year. That indeed is the new cash crop.
9:45, maybe you should see how polite everyone is in one of our 28 states that honor Constitutional Carry of Firearms. I'd feel safer if e are at least able to defend ourselves both from crime and tyranny. Putting two stores and their employees out of business so you feel safer is pathetic.
Lighten up, Francis.
And JAC, even bad ideas get ruined by our MD Gubmint, now they're talking about taxing cannabis even more just driving users back to the very 'black marker,'they were ostensibly trying to hurt. Go figure! They can't even do wrong things right!
When you buy guns in State Of MD..you have to be approved by ATF and MD State Police b4 you can get any GUNS. So that means that ATF AND MD State Police already knew this guy bought all those guns, while none of the gun shops did.
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